Why I have been forced to install 24-hour surveillance
It was just another weekend at the little farm shop that we have cultivated at the end of the avenue to the farm house. We sell all our farm produce there, from eggs, honey and pumpkins to the year-round array of flowers and bulbs that people have been stopping to buy from us for years.
Generally, a car pulls in, the punter either pops out to have a look at what’s on offer, or they stay put in their car because they know exactly what they want and know that one of the girls will bring it over and pop it into their car for them.
On this occasion, an older woman and young girl pulled in. Let’s call them a mother and daughter.
In hindsight, we can see that they knew what they were at from the moment they pulled in, because they actually pulled in after the gate, where we wouldn’t be paying as much attention to what type of car they were driving.
The pair had a quick look at the flower stand and then came inside the gates and up to the parked trailer where the seller sits waiting for the next customer.
“Would you mind running through the flower names with me cos I’m dyslexic” said the girl.
Who would refuse a genuine request like that?
As we were explaining all the various types and prices to the young lady, the ‘mother’ hung back at the trailer, where we keep our money box.
They decided that they wouldn’t actually buy anything, which would be unusual in itself, but then there’s nothing as quare as folk.
It was only when we went to get change for the next customer some 15 minutes later that the bombshell hit. Where there had been over €200, now there was only a lonely fiver and a few coins.
There followed a few panicked phone-calls, double-checking that I hadn’t been up to the unit when someone’s back was turned to empty the cash box.
And then there was shock, and tears and frustration as we realised the sequence of events that led to the robbery in the plain light of day.
It reminded me of another incident that happened earlier this year when a family stopped to ‘buy’ a bunch of daffodils.
Again, very few people go to the trouble of stopping to spend just €2, but as I said, there’s horses for every course out there.
The tenner was handed over, and we duly handed out the €8 change.
As they climbed into the car, there was a pause, until one of the kids was sent back with another €10 note to buy another €2 bunch.
It was only when we were doing the cross-check that evening that the two fake — albeit very good fake — tenners were spotted.
Of course, in hindsight, it all seems terribly obvious, but I was incensed at the cheek of the thieves. Bad enough to give away produce we’ve worked hard to produce, but to give away money in return for pieces of paper that were only fit for lighting the fire was a nasty pill.
It forced our hand to install security cameras to record every stopper, and have implemented a regular cash collection from the gate to ensure that there’s never more than about €100 on hand at any one time.
It has got to the stage that automated gates and a set of security cameras have become essential for any business premises.
At a minimum of €2,000 to install either, it’s yet another barrier for any small business to overcome.
House burglaries are supposed to be way down because thieves know that there are so many more people at home these days. Presumably, the national traffic checkpoints also don’t suit criminals trying to stay under the radar .
But this will be of little comfort to farmers, especially of the older generation, who read about farms being described by gardai as “supermarkets for criminals” during these dark, winter months.
One great silver-lining to Covid is that people are switching from cash to the more hygienic plastic card instead. Great, until the criminals figure out how to swindle us on those as well.
Gardai have described farms as ‘supermarkets for criminals’ during these dark winter months