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FARMERS ARE BEING urged to be on the lookout for suspicious activity around their land and property – and to take note of anything out of place, even if it appears insignificant at first.
Crime prevention officer with the Irish Farmers’ Association Colin Connolly, who spoke to TheJournal.ie at the Ploughing Championships this week, said it was important for farm-owners and managers to take photos of their vehicles and equipment and to register them in the TheftStop scheme.
More than 28,000 farm-related crime incidents have been reported to the gardaí since 2010, according to the latest CSO figures.
The most common incidents are thefts from farmyards, with more than 2,000 incidents being reported every year since 2010. The next most common occurrence is theft from outhouses or sheds, followed by burglary.
A Garda initiative to directly tackle organised burglary gangs, Operation Thor, was launched late last year.
“Suspicious activity comes in many shapes and forms,” Connolly said – noting that he had been told of two recent cases where it was believed livestock were hand-fed by criminals, days before they were taken.
“If you have cattle or livestock, if you feel your cattle or livestock are not taking feed as they normally would, just be on the lookout.
I’ve spoken to farmers who have had sheep taken and when they’ve looked back in hindsight they think that the sheep haven’t been taking their feed properly for a number of weeks and the sheep happened to be taken.
Connolly urged farmers to be on the lookout for fence-posts that had been removed or flattened, and said a close eye should be kept on how animals were behaving.
In some scenarios, cattle and sheep are being hand-fed and being prepped to be taken by criminals. That demonstrates a degree of organised criminality to it.
“In my own experience criminals tend to scope an environment at the time when they plan to commit their crime – so they want to replicate the scenario. They’re not going to visit the property at 2 o’clock in the day because they want to see what the property will be like at 2 o’clock in the morning.”
The TheftStop scheme, which farmers are being advised to sign up to, gives a unique registered ID that farmers can mark their machinery with, making the items more difficult to sell on and therefore less attractive for thieves.
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Welcome to the 21st century!!! PASSPORT OFFICE
@Ronan Mc Namara: don’t be stupid the passport office has been providing an amazing online service for years. One of the best in the world in fact. 100% virtual applications process. They still have to be printed though and this is a more manual service which likely impacted.
@Ronan Mc Namara: learn to read honey…this article is about online applications only…
@Paul Quirke: What school did you go too?
Applications received from it are not being processed in real time but rather set aside in a queue until whenever the office reopens.
Blind leading the blind in that office.
Sure it’s a world class system…Jesus wept!!
@Ronan Mc Namara:
I renewed my passport online and I got it in 5 days while Brexit was happening. Excellent Service.
@Just Some Guy: Fair enough……but not for the last few months. Excellent Service…………….Jesus wept!
At present, no new applications for new or renewed passports are being taken either over the phone or by mail, as the coronavirus crisis has affected production of the documents themselves.
@Ronan Mc Namara: why?
The passport online system does not entail customer contact, processing can quite easily be organised with safe distancing, & actual printing, binding, & posting similarly, on a shift basis to mert demand.
Its a good revenue earner as well, so why would staff be redeployed, when lits of other public service personnel remain disengaged entirely, on full pay.
The senior heads have serious questions to answer, both in the civil srrvice & local authorities, as to why so many units closed up.
If they are not rated as essential services, then why re open them again?
@William Kelly: I agree William beggars belief….. they could not wait to closed the doors….very shoddy service.
While the Passport Office’s online renewal system is still live, applications received from it are not being processed in real time but rather set aside in a queue until whenever the office reopens.
@Ronan Mc Namara: not correct, the blank passport booklet are done in bulk order from the secure printing company contracted by the government and are stockpiled with emergency reserves. Even in the the UK although they recently changed to blue passports, red passports are still being issued as they are trying to get rid of them to make sure they have sufficiently stockpiled the new blue ones.
@Ronan Mc Namara: you also have to remember Ireland have Passport Cards, so if in the unlikely situation passport books where in fact short supply, it would be easy enough to issue the cards standalone to those applicants who only plan to travel to another EU country or just wanting a passport for the purpose of proving their ID, reserving the booklets for those who need to travel outside of the EU.
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