LOUGH DERG

PETER GLEESON, SEC AND PRO OF GARRYKENNEDY FISHING CLUB REPORTS

SPATE OF BOAT ENGINES THEFTS CONTINUES .....

The protracted spate of boat engine thefts on the shores of Lough Derg is continuing with the disappearance of a further seven engines on angling boats in Garrykennedy, writes Peter Gleeson of the Nenagh Guardian newspaper on August 12.

Local boat owners are left reeling and substantially out of pocket following the thefts which took place on Wednesday night last week (Aug 6 2008). Gardai in Nenagh are following a direct line of inquiry after arresting up to three individuals following the recovery of a number of engines in a house search in Nenagh on August 12, though nobody has yet been charged at the time of writing (Today, August 19).

The culprits cut the chain on a rowing boat moored in the public harbour and used it to gain entry to the boathouse owned by the Garrykennedy Boat Club.

The thieves specifically targeted boats with modern four-stroke outboard engines, making off with a haul estimated to be in excess of a total of €20,000.

They used bolt cutters to break the locks on the engines and loaded them into a separate boat in the shed and rowed back out with their valuable haul. It is believed the stolen engines were then loaded into a van or lorry, which gardai have so far failed to locate.

Gardai suspect that the engines are being smuggled abroad for sale. Boat engine thefts have become an extremely lucrative racket for criminals in recent times. Similar thefts have been reported from boating clubs all over the country.

Boating clubs in places like Killaloe and Garrykennedy are now being forced to invest in costly security measures to protect the property of their members.

Gardai suspect that the criminals involved in such incidents work in highly organized gangs. They seem to have little trouble overcoming security measures taken by individual boat owners to secure their property.

The situation became so bad earlier this year that the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board said there were thefts taking place on almost a daily basis.

In a statement issued last May, the board advised all anglers to remove their engines from their boats when not in use.

Virtually all areas of the Lough Derg shoreline have been hit, with the total haul now believed to be in excess of the €100,000 mark.

Last May three boats were stolen from the Canal Bank in Killaloe. The craft were later discovered further up the lake at Two-Mile-Gate. The thieves had sawn away the back of each vessel to steal their engines, all believed to be 25 horsepower models.

Two engines were also taken from the Ogonnelloe area during the same period. In at least one of these incidents a consaw, or chainsaw, was used to saw away the back of the boat in order to steal the engine.

In August of last year six engines were stolen from the Saint Flannan’s Fishing Club boathouse in Killaloe. The haul was estimated at €35,000.

In April of this year five engines were stolen from the Nenagh Boat Club in Dromineer and four from the shoreline in Ballina. One was stolen in Coolbawn an at least another two in the Ogonnelloe area.

The fishery board has described the theft of boat engines as “a new any worrying phenomenon in the area”.