This article is from page 20 of the 2013-10-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
BOAT owners are being encouraged to install tracking devices after a raft of engine thefts from Clare piers in recent days.
A Mariner 65 HP engine was stolen from a boat at Seafield Pier in the early hours of Sunday morning. Thieves pulled the boat ashore and the engine was forcibly removed. Engines were also stolen from boats at Doonbeg pier overnight between Friday and Saturday and overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.
One of the stolen engines was valued at € 16,000. Sgt Joe Downey, Crime Prevention Officer, said Gardaí have not received many reports of suspicious activity as passers by may think thieves are actually the owners working on a boat.
He is encouraging boat owners to install tracking devices on engines. Similar devices are required by insurance companies for the owners of cars valued at € 50,000 or more.
The owners of JCBs can also use tracking devices to send out text messages to alert when machinery has been moved outside a certain set area.
Sgt Downey explained, “People are going to have to seriously ask themselves is it really necessary to keep engines overnight at piers? And if so have they installed tracking devices. A well installed tracking device can be be very useful.
“For instance tracking devices are very useful in laptops. People should seriously consider installing tracking devices when the value of the item is high.”
Despite a small number of breakins around the county over the AllIreland weekend, Sgt Downey said homeowners and businesses are heeding advice for someone to keep an eye on properties during major events.
“When the whole county is gone to the All-Ireland final, someone has to stay behind to mind the house. A lot of people heeded that advice. We had a couple of break ins in that period (match) and one that happened around the time of the homecoming on Sunday”.
A number of items were stolen from a houses in Newmarket and Corofin between Saturday and Sunday morning. A ladies handbag was stolen from a house in the Drumcliff Road area of Ennis between 6pm and 10pm on Sunday night.
Thieves ransacked house in the Hawthorns estate on the Limerick Road overnight between Sunday and Monday. The rear window was forced open.