Thieves target ticket takings

A CARLOW GAA employee was robbed at gunpoint by thieves targeting monies from the sale of Leinster championship tickets.

The woman, who works for the county board, was followed last Tuesday after she left Dr Cullen Park where thousands of tickets had been on sale for the county’s provincial semi-final against Wexford.

After getting out at her neighbour’s house in Ricketstown to collect her children, two masked gunmen carrying sawn-off shotguns got out of a silver blue BMW yelling “where’s the money? Where’s the money?”

She immediately moved away from her Skoda Octavia, which the gunmen hijacked. However all the thieves got away with were two swimming bags and another bag with a change of clothes.

Carlow chairman Michael Meaney expressed concern at the events.

He said: “It’s a worry. It’s very hard to know what kind of guys they were.

“They wouldn’t have been the smartest thieves in Ireland if they thought she was taking the money home in her bag.

“We’ve a sub committee looking at money from the match ticket situation this week.

“Obviously on a week like that we’d never have had that sort of demand for tickets. It’s estimated there were 6,000 to 7,000 Carlow supporters at the game and about half of them got their tickets from Dr Cullen Park.

“That’s more than we’d get for a county final and twice as much money given the ticket prices.

“It was new territory for us but we were lodging the money regularly and we’re happy with internal arrangements.

“We didn’t think fellas would target a staff member on her way home from work. It’s almost ridiculous to think that. Fair play to the woman. She was back to work the next morning because it was a very busy week.

“She got a fright but she’s made of sterner stuff.”

Yesterday a garda spokesperson said they have taken a number of witness statements and are reviewing CCTV footage.