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AGRICULTURAL CRIME IS a far bigger issue than official garda statistics would suggest, Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) president Patrick Kent has said.
Kent was speaking following the third and final report from the ICSA’s National Agricultural Crime Survey. The survey represents agricultural crime reported and not reported to gardaí, the reasons for reporting and not reporting the crimes and crime prevention measures employed by farmers.
565 of the survey’s 861 respondents experienced 1,512 incidents of agricultural crime between 1 January 2014 and 31 May 2016. Of the 1,512 incidents recorded, respondents recorded whether an incident was reported for gardaí for 1,166 incidents.
45% of all agricultural crime incidents experienced by respondents were not reported to gardaí.
“We now know that two-thirds of Irish farming families have been affected by crime relating to their farming enterprise and that many in rural Ireland have little confidence in how An Garda Síochána and the judicial system are tackling the issue,” Kent said.
The reasons given for choosing not to report a crime were:
ICSA rural development chairman Seamus Sherlock said: “Nobody should have to live in a state of constant fear and anxiety as a result of feeling under siege due to lack of garda resources.
The ordinary decent people of rural Ireland are outraged that criminals seem to be acting with impunity. Even where insurance is in place, premiums are always at risk of rising significantly as a result of this type of crime.
Theft reports
Both theft and vandalism, criminal damage or trespass (VCDT) are the most common types of crimes experienced by farmers.
351 respondents experienced 652 incidents of theft during the course of the survey.
Overall, more theft incidents were reported to gardaí (334 incidents) than not reported (201 incidents). The average value of assets stolen in a theft incident reported to gardaí was higher compared to theft incidents not reported to gardaí.
Machinery, equipment and vehicles make up the majority of thefts at 48%, followed by tools and chemicals at 32% and livestock, feed and products at 20%.
316 farmers surveyed experienced incidents of VCDT.
Overall, slightly less VCDT incidents were reported to gardaí (247 incidents) than not reported (277).
Commenting on the findings of the survey, Sherlock said: “ICSA would encourage farmers to report all incidents of crime to the gardaí even if they cannot see any immediate benefit from doing so.
The figures revealed in this crime survey need to be reflected in official garda statistics so the scale of the problem can be recognised and appropriate resources put in place.
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He looks nothing like Liam Neeson!
Should this not have been state property since it was made ?
Not if it was made by his family.
And was it ?
Jaysus I couldn’t tell you, but I would imagine so if his grand-niece had it.
There was no autopsy or coronial inquiry so it could only have been made by his family.
A true Irish hero
Poignant and creepy at the same time.
WTF is a death mask?
It’s a quaint little British execution ritual that was practical in the days before cameras, but was continued even after the advent of cameras, and which former British colonies such as Malaysia and Singapore still do today. When someone is executed, and as only a handful of officials are allowed to be present, a plaster cast of the executed persons face is made postmortem as proof that they had been executed, and could then be publicly displayed. I don’t know why one would have been made of Collins.
Would love to have seen it go to Collin’s barracks in Cork.
Yes he was a true son of Cork, until ye shot him.
@ Brian , that was sheer brilliance
Dev’s crowd shot him !
Lol, Brian :)
They should leave us at least keep the bullet then.
…but they were still from Cork!
A true irish warrior.alot of lives could of been saved had he not been killed
ffs gimme a break,what about having some respect for people who had a profound impact on our history without being so flippant,can’t you people take sometime out and be more informed,I hate stupid comments
Won’t be queuing up to see that, not even if it was Elvis’s!!
Free world is great! You actually don’t have too!
Dev set him up. COLLINS knew he signed his death warrant when he signed the treaty. He also knew the orange thugs of Carson et Al were armed to the teeth , British officers in Kildale were allowed not to engage loyalists forces and the blood thirsty Churchill made it very clear to Collins that not signing the treaty would result in huge deaths, mainly Catholic. It was a stepping stone and De Velera is no hero of mine. Using collins as a scapegoat. He only escaped execution in 1916 because he was American.
Michael Collins true Irish hero.
God rest him.
My daughters in the background pic
Béal na mBláth not Béal Na mBláth.
A hero……..also a ‘terrorist’ if he existed today. Just read the laws brought in recently. Red thumb this comment away but you know its true. This govt who lay wreaths at his grave, would all be screaming for his arrest. Because traitors wouldnt be around long if he was here.
Cop on. Terrorists . FFS. He got rid of the British terrorists and if that means shooting black and tans and the Cairo gang then that makes him a liberator of Ireland from British rule. War is not meant to be nice.
did you not get what i meant you complete idiot. Im highlighting the hypocracy of our govt who call him a hero while doing being complete traitors to this country. Are you one of those thickos who think loosing our soveignity is fine unless its to the british?
It wasn’t presented by Collins’ nieces, it was acquired for the visitor’s centre by Private Noel McDonnell. Helen Collins and Mary Claire O’Malley were just there to view it on the day.
Anybody care to explain WTF a death mask is?
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