Cavan Mart has fallen victim to two separate incidents in the past two weeks where vandals broke into the premises and allegedly caused “a significant amount of damage” to equipment.
Speaking to Agriland, Cavan Mart’s manager, Gerry Murray, explained: “We had two break-ins in the past two weeks.”
He said that the vandals broke in and gained entry to the mart office and damaged “a significant amount of computer equipment”.
Murray explained that there was a “very old safe” in the office and the vandals broke the door off it, in what the mart manager believes was an attempt to find cash.
The Cavan Mart manager added that “the full extent of the damage is not yet known” and noted that it could cost “up to €30,000” to replace the computer equipment alone.
Continuing, Murray said: “They drove a screwdriver through the computer screens. Anything they met, they put a screwdriver through it.
“When they were leaving, they took containers of disinfectant and soaked everything with it, they sprayed the electrical equipment and damaged it all.”
The vandals also broke into the canteen and reportedly “damaged a lot of food”.
“They stole about 25 mugs and some cutlery from the canteen and threw food out of the deep freezer onto the floor,” Murray told Agriland.
Mart continues
However, the mart manager did not let the vandals deter him from running the weekly cattle sale on either occasion, and gathered up enough computer equipment for the sale.
He said: “We gathered up pieces of equipment and ran the sale last Friday and got the sale up and going.”
Continuing, Murray explained: “Lucky enough, we had a laptop and all the bits and pieces for putting our cattle sale online locked in a safe and they didn’t get into it, so that was a help that we could go online.”
He expressed his concern about what he described as “an awful lot of people loitering about the yard” and said he has noticed this since a walkway was opened up that runs “in close proximity to the rear of the mart”.
Garda investigation
A statement from Garda Síochána said: “Gardaí are investigating two burglaries which occurred at a premises in Farnham Road, Co. Cavan between the August 24, 2021, and September 3, 2021.
“No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing,” the statement concluded.