Farmers in Clare, Donegal, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Roscommon and Tipperary will be able to take part in a property marking programme aimed at combating rural theft.

Eircode, not-for-profit company Property Marking Ireland and local communities are rolling out the programme.

Property Marking Ireland works with local communities to run events where people can get their property marked with their Eircode. The property marking machine uses a tungsten carbide pin to stamp a pattern of dots, in the shape of an Eircode, into the selected item. Steel, aluminum and plastic can all be marked.

Eircodes can be marked on farm equipment, garage and garden tools, power tools, equestrian equipment and more.

Warning signs are also being put up in covered communities to make criminals aware that property is now marked and thus make it less attractive for theft.

Community benefit

“We are delighted to see the implementation of Eircode in this shared initiative, demonstrating another example of the critical function of individual address identification and how it can facilitate community benefit”, Karen Dwyer, operations director with Eircode said.

“Local authorities and communities collaborating with Property Marking Ireland, further strengthens the common purpose of community led crime prevention, reducing both property crime and the fear of crime in rural and urban areas.“

James O’Neill, development manager of Property Marking Ireland, said that working with the initiative is making an impact in rural communities in particular where there is a high volume of property theft from farms and an increasing number of unrecovered pieces of expensive farm equipment.

Property marking with Eircodes has commenced in west Cork, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim and Sligo.

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