The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has said that a farmer was told by a trespassing gang to choose a site on his land where he would like to be buried.
Chair of Limerick ICMSA, John Bateman told Agriland that groups trespassing on farmlands has been “an ongoing issue but seems to be getting worse”.
Although the gangs are purportedly claiming to be hunting hares with their dogs, Bateman said he believes that some are using it as a “scouting” opportunity for property.
“The number of burglaries within a radius of five or six miles is crazy,” he added.
The ICMSA chair said that gates, fencing, metal, water pumps and power tools have been stolen.
He said there have been incidents in Croom and Kilmallock and closer to Limerick city in Ballyneety and Fedamore.
“The way it has changed is that the gangs have become more aggressive if the farmer confronts them.
“That’s not a nice thing to happen if you’re in the middle of your own farm and you’re confronted by three or four individuals who are threatening you,” he said.
According to Bateman, in one particularly chilling incident, a gang initially asked a farmer how much land he had, then they followed up with, ‘Would you like to pick a spot where you’d like to be buried?’
Bateman said he worries that such situations may escalate, and said he would like to see the gardaí more involved.
“When you have guys being threatened like that, they’re on their own and there’s fear it’s not going in the right direction,” he said.
“There was one incident close to me and they [a gang] came across four farms. There were five different phone calls to the guards, two of them were 999 calls. There was no response for three-and-a-half hours.
“The gardaí need to become involved and make it so awkward for these guys that they find a new pastime.
“If a trespasser or a farmer gets injured – nobody wants to see that happen. It’s almost an accident waiting to happen.
“The reality is that farms are not public playgrounds; you’ve stockbulls, you’ve cows with calves. A farmer’s right to his property should be his right,” Bateman said.
The ICMSA chair said he was “quite taken aback” by the response from across the country to a letter he recently wrote to the Limerick Leader newspaper on the matter.
“It goes to show that it is an issue with so many other people besides [within] our area; it is resonating across the country,” Bateman said.