Robin Talbot, a suckler farmer from Ballacolla, Co Laois, had his jeep and well as other items stolen from his yard on 23 June of this year. Along with Liam Dunne, a tillage farmer from Athy, Co Kildare, both men’s stories brought home the harrowing realities that victims of rural crime must live with.

Robin Talbot described the moment he discovered he had been targeted.

“I noticed the gate open. It is a gate that wouldn’t be locked but we are meticulous about closing gates at night so I knew something was amiss. When I went down the yard I noticed that there was a lock broken in the workshop. Then the penny dropped with me that our jeep was gone,” Robin explained at the Crimestoppers launch on Monday.

Also taken was a chainsaw and hedge cutters, but it wasn’t the monetary value of the items taken that bothers Talbot.

There were bits and pieces in the workshop that were no value to anyone else but priceless to me

“The more I think of it, the jeep was the least of my concerns. Like a lot of farmers, our jeep serves as our mobile workshop and office. There were bits and pieces in the workshop that were no value to anyone else but priceless to me. We would have had books and notebooks which record medicine for livestock and things like that, invaluable to me,” he said.

“Our eldest daughter is twelve, and she is big into farming. She is out in the yard with me late at night feeding calves. I have never passed any remarks but it is always in the back of my mind now: is there someone watching? That is a horrible feeling.” Talbot concluded.

Text alert

Dunne, who is at the centre of the text alert for his area, also emphasised the mental trauma associated with being a victim of rural crime.

“A farmyard to a farmer is an expression of himself. You build and design a farmyard over the years the way you want it. To have that violated is quite traumatic. I have never been broken into before,” he said.

“For weeks afterwards, my family were waking up at night, calling me and say they are hearing something outside. They should normally be fast asleep. It went on for weeks afterwards,” Liam added.

IFA president Joe Healy also touched on the mental stress that follows these incidents, highlighting the trauma felt by families who are victims of criminal activity.

Listen to a discussion with garda detective Eugene O'Sullivan at the event in our podcast below:

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