Situated just ten minutes off the M7 motorway, the small village of Shanahoe in Co Laois is easy to access from all directions. With rural crime on the increase, the local community were fearful that the problem would only get worse.

Locals voiced their concerns at a public meerting in 2013, and the Shanahoe Community Alert committee have worked long and hard since to come up with the solution - the installation of CCTV cameras at every junction in and around the village.

It's not the fact that someone has taken something that is scary, but the fact that someone has gone through your house or your farmyard, and you don't know whether - or when - they are going to come back.

Embrace FARM founder and local Brian Rohan explained to the Irish Farmers Journal how the idea came about.

"There's many remote laneways in Shanahoe where people live. On St Patrick's Day back in 2013, a neighbour was robbed, and talking about it after he said 'wouldn't it be great to put a camera at the end of that lane?'

"But then we realised that that would actually be no good, because you'd need one here, and another one there too. So we started thinking - if we can put a camera on every junction then that could protect everyone in the area. So that's what we did, and now 240 households are covered," he said.

Cheap price to pay

The cameras were fully funded by the locals themselves, costing €185 per household. It is a cheap price to pay for the locals to feel safe in their homes once again.

"It's not the fact that someone has taken something that is scary, but the fact that someone has gone through your house or your farmyard, and you don't know whether - or when - they are going to come back.

"These criminals have no sympathy for anyone, and they'll do whatever they need to do to get what they want. The local Garda station is closed at night, and there's also less gardaí to cover bigger areas these days, and these criminals only know that too well," Rohan said.

There are two cameras at every location - one for general view and one specific to car registration plates. The cameras are fully operational throughout the day and night.

"If an incident occurs between 4-6 in the morning, there might be only three or four cars after being on the road at that time, and three could be local, so we're able to give that information to the gardaí then," he said.

Above board

The committee had to get full planning permission to install the cameras, and the garda commissioner also had to sign off on the plans for data protection - to be able to officially use the footage when needed.

"You can put a camera outside your gate no problem as long as it's looking back at your house or your farmyard, but you can't put one looking out on a public road - that's illegal.

"It's sad to say you have to go to this extent, but if it puts a stop to the crime then that's the most important thing," Rohan said.

Read more

Full coverage: rural crime