A meeting has heard how a farm family in Co. Kerry has been left “broken” after suffering a third suspected sheep theft in a matter of months.

In the most recent incident, Denis O’Connor from Artigallivan, Headford, Killarney, said that another 10 sheep were taken last week from his farmland in the remote Clydagh valley.

The farmer believes that 160 sheep in total have been taken from his holding since early September.

He initially noticed that 120 sheep were missing when the flock were brought in for shearing on September 2.

While dosing the animals a few weeks later, he saw that another 29 sheep were missing.

Sheep

Denis, his wife Marie and son Donagh were among those who attended a meeting held by Glenflesk Community Alert group last night (Monday, November 17).

Marie explained how the incidents have impacted the entire family.

"There’s two of our kids gone over to the farm tonight to be there while we’re here,” she said.

Around three weeks ago, Denis installed CCTV at the farm, at a cost of around €4,000, which he told Agriland is “very useful” to detect any activity on the farm.

“You get a detection whether it’s a vehicle or person or animal, you get a detection on your phone and you can check then,” he said.

As the farm is a distance from the family home, Denis has also begun to stay in the farmhouse on the land.

Appeal

The missing sheep are mountain cross Texel and Cheviot ewes that all have a notch under their right ear.

The farmer appealed to anyone with information about the incidents to come forward.

“It might only seem like a car out of place, you might think it was nothing. It could be some people walking. Just give the information to the guards," he said.

Denis said that he has been building up his flock all his life and now it is gone “in the blink of an eye”.

The couple's son Donagh, who is currently doing the Green Cert, has plans to go farming. However, the recent incidents have taken a toll.

"I want to take over the farm but the way it’s going you’d nearly be tempted to sell it. You wouldn’t know what to do because it’s just getting taken bit by bit," he said.

Marie added that the family "just want whoever is doing it to be caught and stopped".

"For the mental health of everyone involved, there’s six of us in the house, everyone is affected. It’s not getting any easier day by day. You’re living on your nerves,” she said.

While he could not give details about the ongoing garda investigation into the case, Garda Declan Leader said that garda patrols in the area would be increased, especially at night.

He appealed to anyone with any information in relation to the sheep thefts is asked to contact Killarney Garda Station on (064) 667 1160, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111 or any garda station.

Text alert

Padraig O'Sullivan, chair of Glenflesk Community Alert, told Agriland what the O'Connor family have gone through in recent months was "absolutely frightening".

"It's not just a couple of sheep, at this stage now it's 160 sheep. That's a massive financial loss to a farming family and the stress they're under, the effect it's having," he said.

"This sort of thing, it's shocking, it's very saddening that this is the way rural Ireland is going, but our big aim here tonight is to pull together, try and find some solutions now with An Garda Síochána and hopefully find the culprits," he added.

The Glenflesk Community Alert is now planning to revive a text alert group in the locality, along with using social media.

"Now unfortunately, we're suggesting that people get CCTV as well. People that would never have imagined having CCTV on their farm before, now they have to. That's a financial burden again on them," O'Sullivan said.

As the family believe the thieves could have used nearby forestry as cover when stealing the livestock, O'Connor said Coillte would be contacted about the possibility of locking gates on nearby forestry roads at night.

Along with the emotional cost, the farmer and his family have been left out of pocket by around €30,000, while also having pay to install the CCTV.

Following a suggestion by a person attending the meeting, Glenflesk Community Alert has set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe to help the O'Connor family.

Security

The issue of sheep security was also highlighted at a meeting organised by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) in Kilgarvan last night.

Kerry IFA Sheep chair Eamon Horgan said that flock security on outside farms is going to be a huge issue going forward.

He appealed to all farmers to examine the security arrangements on out farms and to consider staggering the times when stock is checked.

Horgan also committed to exploring the microchipping technology that is currently available as a means of boosting sheep identification.