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THE SISTER OF AN Offaly man who was beaten and robbed by a group of four men on his farm at the beginning of the month has said he is just beginning to acclimatise to being on alone again.
Richie McKelvey was admitted to hospital after being injured in the burglary. This was the second time his home at Glasderry Beg in Brosna was robbed over a six-week period.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, Richie’s sister, Annette Meacle, described the incident.
“He’s a very private man and he lives a very ordinary farmer’s life. Basically, he did the usual things he always did and then he watched The Late Late Show, tidied around and went up to bed,” Annette said.
He was awoken by four men in his room who burst through the door, knocked the dog out of the way and pulled him out of the bed and onward from there.
“He had a lot of lacerations and head injuries and stuff like that from the beating. They were quite serious.”
Richie managed to make his way to a neighbour’s house half a mile away to raise the alarm.
“I was very struck and I’m still very struck, as a sister, by the immense courage of that man and wife who are both in their early seventies. When my brother made his way to them… at about 2.10am… he was in a bad shape and the man took Richard into his arms.”
Richie felt that he was unable to return to live alone after being released from hospital and has been staying with Annette since. However, she said that slowly, but surely, McKelvey is beginning to return to his farming life.
“It’s the courage and support of the neighbours, the agricultural and farming community down there that he’s going back doing a bit of herding and staying for a little while on his own and acclimating himself,” she said.
I would be confident enough that he will go back to his old ways.
Speaking of taking Richie into live with her, Annette said: “In country life you make adjustments and you build your life around adjustment and families things and while it’s an unfortunate turn of events for him, you just get on with it.”
Since the incident, Annette has called for more resourcing for the gardaí and new cameras to be installed on the motorways on either side of Co Offaly.
Garda response
Also speaking to O’Rourke this morning, Garda Superintendent John Scanlon advised farmers and those living in rural communities not to turn to the possession of firearms for protection.
“I’ve been to too many tragic incidents where firearms have been used and that’s not the way forward. The question was posed to me ‘Should we go out and start patrolling our areas?’ and I say strongly to people no,” Scanlon said.
“If people are feeling they need to engage in getting out there, we have a garda reserve. We deploy our garda reserve back into the communities from which they come from. Join that if they wish to give expression to the need to get out there and be seen.”
Rural crime statistics
A recent survey by the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) has outlined agricultural crime reported and not reported to gardaí, the reasons for reporting and not reporting the crimes and crime prevention measures employed by farmers.
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,” ISCA president Patrick Kent said.
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You see we had this for many years in late 90′s early 00′s. An old man beat to death tied to a chair in Oranmore, many others beaten severely. There was a few near miss shooting incidents by old rural dwellers. The law done nothing and let it stew and stew. Then Padraic Nally was terrorised by a bunch of s(umbags for years, he couldn’t take it amymore and eventually and thankfully he shot the sc(umbag dead to save his own sanity, he’s own life!….Its stewing again now, its nearly cooked, another generation needs another Padraic Nally before the law will do anything..
No mention of the role our courts and judges play in this problem….The Gardai work very hard and catch them….Then they are entitled to free legal aid and even with 100 previous convictions are given bail…….At least they should be electronically tagged while on bail with numerous previous convictions…..I know it’s a very extreme idea but perhaps their Hiace van should be sized by the state to pay for the legal aid…….If they end up with a fine it needs to be taken from their social welfare every week….
@John003: taken from their social welfare? If you are on social welfare and break the law it should be cut
@John003: No, NO, you don’t get it. If they’re not released to offend again then it’s the equivalent of butchering the legal cash cow.
@John003: Does anybody know why we dont have electronic tagging of people who are convicted but for whatever reason are walking about free to commit yet more crimes. Seems to me that it would be a very inexpensive way of controlling their movements. For example, they could be limited to a certain restricted area or restricted movement in night hours. This could be monitored for very little cost – it could even be done from Bangalore. So what if the signal is a bit poor at times – the criminal doesnt know which . It would free up a lot of prison places . Then the serious offenders and repeat offenders could be locked up for a long time.
Being shot should be considered an occupational hazard for burglars.
Not to turn to the possession of firearms? What choice have they? It’s ether that or be savagely beaten!
What kind of parasites are we breeding in this country? we know who is predominantly responsible for this type of cowardly crime. but its the countries worse kept secret. have we learned nothing from the past, secrets provided cover for religious rapists, corrupt politicians. But Its not PC to tell the truth and its not a case of tarring everyone with the same brush. Their silence does that for them.
@Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: Well I’m not scared to say that it’s burglars doing this.
Robbed twice in a six week period and nobody caught for it.People like this man living alone,doing his own thing,bothering nobody in a rural area have no protection from the sc*um that are on the country back roads at night.People like this should be given a shotgun for their own protection.If sc*um like these are stupid enough to break in they should be blown out.Anyone breaking into my home I would have no hesitation in doing it.A sign I once saw outside a house and totally agree with read
My home is protected by God and my gun,enter uninvited and you will meet both!!!
@Padraic McHugh: Absolutely, amazing how many Gardaí can be assigned to protect “gang members” in Dublin but rural areas are “open ” for vicious roaming thugs.
Bring in a protection law for the public if you can defend yourself a shoot to kill policy would be in order with no comeback for the intruder
Well Supt Scanlon, it’s too late.. groups are already organising and patrolling.
It shouldn’t have come to this, but the genie is out of the bottle, good luck getting it back in.
Amazing all the same how many Gardai and cars can be dispatched to protect hunts in rural areas. Some things are important. We wouldn’t want pesky fenian natives sabotaging the right of dignified savages to go about their dignified savagery dressed like clowns to boot. Priorities anyone?
Shoot to kill,one shot only.
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