As rural crime rates “increase”, members of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) held a “positive” meeting with Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee.
Following calls from the association on setting up a rural crime unit, IFA deputy president Alice Doyle said that the minister will now consult with assistant commissioner for roads policing and community engagement, Paula Hilman.
“The minister does realise that rural communities are under intense pressure, and that farmers in particular are being targeted,” Doyle said
“People are coming in from abroad and they know that GPS equipment has a good market.
“Those stealing equipment know that this is a good time of the year, with so much machinery in use,” Doyle added.
Rural crime
The IFA discussed the disruption that such crime causes for farmers, along with the insurance and replacement costs.
“Farmers are in bad form enough, they don’t need any of this,” Doyle said.
The IFA also discussed with the minister how they had identified that there were potential markets for GPS equipment in North America and Eastern Europe.
Doyle spoke about how the anti-theft operation put in place in Co. Tipperary in 2022 “acted as a precedent” for setting up a national unit.
The unit at the time, called Operation Rototiller followed a surge in criminal activity in a particular area of the county.
“It worked really well there and got a great response from the community,” Doyle said.
Doyle added that without a specialised unit, crimes are being dealt with “in isolation”, instead of being linked together.
“A huge amount of GPS’ were stolen in south Wexford about three weeks ago and about three months ago, the very same time as it was happening in Dublin.
“The criminals have coordination, so we better get coordinated,” Doyle said.
Reducing risk
Doyle told Agriland that the IFA is currently awaiting a response from the minister, and that farmers should “remain cautious”.
To reduce the risk of rural crime, Doyle said that farmers should secure machinery as best as possible at the end of the day, by taking machinery and equipment into the yard at night, where possible.
Farmers should also provide distinct identifying marks on equipment for tracing purposes and light up yards to provide visibility for CCTV, according to Doyle.
“Just other obvious things, of course at the moment farmers are running and it’s easy to do things like leaving keys in the tractor while lads run in for dinner, but these guys are watching your every move,” Doyle said.
She added that if any unusual activity is spotted, farmers should contact gardaí immediately.