Gardaí in Donegal are investigating reports of the theft of a trailer and three quads in two separate incidents yesterday (Monday, December 11).
While the two incidents were separate, they both took place in the Ballintra area of Co. Donegal in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Gardaí confirmed to Agriland that no arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing at this time for both incidents.
The trailer that was stolen was a 14ft x 6ft Falcon cattle trailer with a blue board on the front of it equipped with LED lights.
Its owner, Geoffrey McClay said that the trailer was stolen between the hours of 4.30a.m and 5.00a.m yesterday (Monday, December 11).
He has CCTV footage of two men allegedly manually pulling the trailer out of the yard, which they then returned to take with their own white van.
They were seen heading towards Sligo at 5.30a.m.
McClay told Agriland that he “never thought it would happen” to him.
“I am a dairy farmer and the yard is very well lit up. I always thought nobody would go to my yard at night because there’s a fair chance I might be knocking about at any time,” he added.
Stolen quads
Only half a mile away from McClay’s premises, the owners of Carron Quads who are located close to the Sligo/Donegal main road, had three quads taken from the premises.
The quads were believed to have been taken from the premises, which was captured on CCTV, before the trailer in the separate incident was stolen, and used to transport the quads away.
The quads are three brand new Suzuki King quads that were taken between the hours of 1:00a.m and 7:00a.m.
Two of the quads are red 500s, with non power steering, and one had oversize Kenda Bear claw tyres on the back.
The other quad is a green 750 with a black bullbar fitted to the front of it.
The owner of the three quads, Michael Carron, said they were first taken out of a showroom, before being moved to a separate shed.
The shed that housed the quads then allegedly had galvanised sheets removed that were used to gain access to the quads, before the sheets were then used as a ramp to move the quads into the adjacent field.
The field had wire fencing that was cut in order to gain access to the shed, before a white transit van with the trailer attached left the premises.
If anyone has information or can identify person(s) that may be in a position to assist, they should contact Ballyshannon Garda Station or the Garda Confidential line.