Garda sergeant Deirdre Coleman from Castlerea and Garda John O’Connor from Roscommon attended Castlerea Mart on Thursday and Roscommon Mart on Friday to meet with farmers and talk about rural crime as part of national community engagement week.

Sergeant Coleman was in Castlerea Mart and she said that the “farmers were very proactive and wanted to get their trailers marked and understand the way it works”.

Roscommon Mart on Friday also attracted a great crowd for a special heifer sale and the farmers were queuing up to get their trailers marked and to speak to the gardaí about rural issues.

Tips

Some of the tips that gardaí gave to farmers included:

  • To have the perimeter secure, walls and hedges around their house and yard and to have the gates closed.
  • Locking the yards and locking the machinery in the yard is really important to deter thieves.
  • Good outdoor lighting and CCTV cameras and signs by the entrance to the yards.

    • Sergeant Coleman highlighted that there are lots of technologies available and even motion sensors that people can buy to secure their home and farms.

    She also advised the rural community that “if you are going away for an extended period of time, have somebody pop in and check on your house”.

    Garda O’Connor said to make sure to “lock your doors and the windows when you are leaving the house and to look out for your neighbours, go back to the basics, and report anything strange immediately”.

    He said: “We prefer to be called and not needed, than needed and not called.”

    Garda O’Connor urged everybody to “never let people into your house that you don’t know. Older people should not get pressured to open their door to strangers.”

    Livestock

    On livestock worrying, Garda O’Connor said that “a farmer is entitled to destroy or shoot the animal if it is worrying their stock”.

    Sergeant Coleman also explained that “something like that is better to be reported, as sometimes the owners of the dogs are unaware that there is an issue”.