This is a subscriber-only article
“For 24 hours after it, you have this continuous churning of your stomach. A bit of that stays with you forever almost. You think to yourself, well if it is done once or twice, you have to accept and worry that it may happen anytime.”
Limerick farmer Liam Houlihan’s description of what it feels like to be a victim is as shocking as it is realistic.
When he strolled into his farmyard on a warm June day in 2013 for what he thought would be an average day, what greeted him would change his perception of farming and daily life.
“The first occasion was a Saturday night in June. You come out in the morning and discover that the hose for diesel is thrown out. Every drum in the yard has been hoovered up and your diesel taken way in those drums,” he explained.
Ah sure, look, what can you do at that stage?” he said.
“The following Saturday night, they arrived back and cleaned the tank again. That was hugely effecting. Not only were you being robbed. You were being targeted,” he said.
Houlihan was targeted during a period of extensive crime in the area. He lives in Bruree, less than five minutes from the N20 and close to both the M8 and M7.
A top-quality road connection all the way to Dublin means access and escape routes gave criminals the perfect platform to target the area. As well as Liam, his neighbours also bore the brunt.
“We knew robberies and burglaries were becoming more prevalent in the area and they were deliberately targeting farming yards and the local co-operatives stores. It had been going on for a year before my farmyard was robbed,” he said.
Calving jack, quad and iron bar
“My neighbour was calving a cow late one night and after finishing up he lay the calving jack against the quad and walked across the yard. When he came back the calving jack was thrown in the yard and the quad taken, while the farmer was only a few yards away. They were watching him as he was working. How do you feel about that? Not only are your valuable tools being taken, but you are being watched,” he stated.
For other neighbours, attacks were far more sinister.
“On one occasion, one of my neighbours who was robbed had an iron bar left outside the back door of his house, just to let him know if he did come out, that was waiting for him. It is a very personal attack. It is not just theft. It is personal. You feel it,” he said.
Cost
The cost of crime stretches far beyond the theft itself. “You are living with the worry and you have to take some preventive measures on it. There is plenty talk about confronting a robber when they come into your yard but that’s coincidental at best. So the only option I had was to install CCTV.
‘‘I put them in all around the place and have them running all the time which is a significant cost.”
The third time
Even at that, for Houlihan, this was just a deterrent. With the cameras in place, he was still targeted in 2014. It was the third time the father of two was robbed. “The idea of being watched is pretty stomach-churning. Being watched is so invasive. You know your yard is being scouted.”
The idea of being watched is pretty stomach-churning. Being watched is so invasive
While Houlihan admits that worry has receded somewhat, he still acknowledges the dangers of what crime represents, especially considering the past.
“This is the world we live in. You have to consider that if you live with it, you have to take action about it,” he said.
“It was always a worry that this would be a continuing part of your life. That shouldn’t be the case for anyone in the country.
The future
He praises the gardaí and Operation Thor for stunting most, if not all, of the thefts in recent times in the area. He remains hopeful that this will continue. While Houlihan acknowledges the past, he remains defiant and determined to get on with his life and farming uninterrupted.
That is all one can do.
€88.5m to be spent on garda overtime to tackle rural crime in 2017
SHARING OPTIONS: