Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has indicated that she is ready to meet with farmers in north Co. Dublin on the issue of rural crime, according to Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) deputy president Alice Doyle.
Speaking to Agriland, Doyle said that Minister McEntee would meet an IFA delegation and representatives of ‘Fingal Farmers’ when a date could be decided on.
According to Doyle, the IFA and Fingal Farmers have submitted possible dates for a meeting to the minister’s office, and are awaiting confirmation.
This follows a meeting that took place on Wednesday night (March 20) in north Co. Dublin to address rural crime in the area, as well as in south Co. Meath and south Co. Louth.
The meeting involved local councilors, senior garda officers, senior local authority executives, and representatives from some state agencies.
According to Doyle, Minister McEntee had indicated she was prepared to attend that meeting, but ultimately was unable to do so (the meeting took place on the same day that the minister’s party colleague Leo Varadkar announced his resignation as Taoiseach and Leader of Fine Gael).
The meeting discussed a range of rural crime issues, mainly what Doyle called a “huge amount of thefts”, but also fly tipping, illegal dumping, and even cases of personal attacks.
Farmer representatives called for the allocation of special state resources and the formation of a taskforce to address the issues.
Doyle explained that something similar to a taskforce for that purpose existed in the north Co. Dublin area several years ago, but has since ceased.
Among the series of farm thefts that have take place in the area, GPS systems in both tractors and machinery seem to be particularly targeted.
This spate of GPS thefts is still subject to garda investigation, Agriland understands.
The IFA believes that criminal gangs have been deliberately targeting farmers in the area and could have stolen as much as €100,000 worth of farm equipment.