Approximately €80k worth of cattle were released from a pen on New Year's Eve with the intention of robbery on a drystock farm in Co Tipperary, a farmer has told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The farmer from Killenaule, Co Tipperary, tells us about the shock she received New Year's Day morning when she realised that their farmyard had been broken into.

The gates to the farm had been opened and a pen of cattle ready for the factory were loose around the yard.

"There was easily €80k worth of cattle there in the shed," she said.

The cattle that had been let loose were all steers and were a mix of Hereford-cross and Angus-cross.

'Wide open'

"When we were going down to do the jobs new year's morning at 7am, we noticed the gates were wide open and the box iron pillar between the two gates was knocked down."

The first pen of cattle were a mad pack of lunatics too

The Killenaule native assumed that the burglars reversed over the box iron and damaged their vehicle when they were mid-operation and this may have stopped them in their tracks.

"The first pen of cattle were a mad pack of lunatics too. We had just dosed them that day and they were hard to dose, so maybe they weren't able to load them," she said.

Sensor lights

She said that they have a very cross dog that may have warned them off and said that the sensor lights around the yard may also have deterred them.

"I'd just like to highlight this for other farmers. We probably should have has CCTV in the yard, but, of course, had it on the long finger.

"We have now since fully installed security cameras and additional security lighting on the farm," she said.

She said that there had been trespassers on the farm two or three months ago who said they were lamping, but perhaps they were actually snooping around.

Gardaí said that they are investigating the incident which occurred in the Killenaule area of Co Tipperary on 31 December 2021.