A Waterford farmer has appealed for help from the public after tools worth almost €2,000 were stolen from his dairy.

Roger Barkley, who runs Tintur Holsteins at the Cappoquin Estate in Co Waterford, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the thieves entered the farm via a cow path instead of the farm’s main entrance.

This meant they avoided the security camera at the entrance but they were caught on camera in the parlour, where Barkley has a camera on the bulk tank.

The three men, who all wore baseball caps, parked a vehicle in a blind spot out of sight of the security cameras around 12:30 in the morning.

Moving into the parlour, they used an empty acid drum to push Barkley’s farm dog into the compressor room and jam the door, locking him inside.

They then moved upstairs to the canteen on the first floor, where the tools are stored and Barkley’s office is located.

“They broke locks on the canteen door and jimmied the lock on my office,” said the farmer, who added that the men even ripped open payslip envelopes in the office in their search for money.

“They spent about 10 minutes rummaging through everything and they disappeared. We thought they had left but about 35 minutes later they reappeared on the camera again from the near the calving shed. They hauled everything down the stairs and into their car and left by the cow road again.”

“They took mainly electrical tools,” he added. “The total value would be about €1,800.”

Barkley thanked his local gardaí, who spent three hours at the farm on Friday morning and were followed by detectives from Dungarvan who are taking fingerprints from Noromectin the thieves handled and reviewing CCTV footage from the farm.

The farm appealed for help in tracing the thieves and the stolen items, which included:

  • A Hitachi hammer drill.
  • A Ryobi cordless screwdriver.
  • An impact drill.
  • A small Bosch angle grinder.
  • A large Hitachi angle grinder.
  • A 25m heavy duty blue electrical cable reel.
  • A 50m electrical cable reel.
  • A charger for a cow clipper.
  • A litre of Noromectin.
  • An old stereo.
  • A grass clippers.
  • A selection of hand tools such as vice grips, wrenches and screwdrivers.

    • Anyone with any information is asked to contact Lismore Garda Station on 058-54222.