JPC: Gardaí conscious of tourist thefts

The number of thefts at tourist spots was highlighted at Monday’s meeting of the JPC when Chief Superintendent John Kerin said it was an issue the gardaí were very conscious of.

He told members of the committee that there were 11 thefts from cars Bunratty and 12 in the North Clare and while the numbers seem small it wasn’t desirable that tourists in Clare have a bad experience.

Of the thefts in North Clare he outlined that two occurred at the Dolmen, one at Poulnabrone, one at Bishopsquarter and eight at Fanore.

“We don’t want tourists in Clare having a bad experience. A total of 23 different families coming to this area have been affected by crime. We had one instance in Fanore where a bus operator brought tourists there for a walk.

“The bus was left unlocked and property belonging to eight people taken. We ask tour operators to take crime prevention advice, create awareness among tourists and remind them not to leave valuables,” he said.

The Chief Superintendent highlighted that the gardaí have made progress in this area and have had a number of individuals before the courts in relation to this crime.

He stated that in the past two weeks alone three people have been arrested in relation to thefts at Bunratty and two had been found trying to break into a car, while the third was detected through good CCTV footage provided by the community.

“I’d like to thank the people who put in extra security cameras and the CCTV images available now are a serious improvement in preventing crime. It’s a message for everyone if you can afford good quality CCTV it is worth it. Those who haven’t modernised their CCTV are advised to do so because old antiquated cameras are similar to having none at all,” he said.