Achill community ‘violated’ by triple school burglary

BURGLARY?Tonragee NS in Achill was broken into this week and 16 laptops were stolen.?Pic: Google Maps

Achill community ‘violated’ by triple school burglary

One school loses 16 laptops

Anton McNulty

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Three Achill schools – Tonragee NS, Bunacurry NS and ColΡiste Pobail Acla – were burgled last Monday night with computer equipment and cash taken. A small amount of cash was taken from both Bunacurry NS and ColΡiste Pobail Acla, but 16 laptops along with a small amount of cash were taken from Tonragee NS.

When Tonragee NS staff arrived on the scene on Tuesday morning, they found the school ransacked. Cabinets had been forced open and files scattered across the floor. The school\s principal, Mary McNamara, says the whole community feels violated.

Ms McNamara told The Mayo News that the staff were ‘numb’ after discovering the scene and were in disbelief that this could happen. “This is very upsetting. We are still numb and can’t believe it happened. We are totally devastated. We feel violated because we never expected it to happen, we felt safe in a rural community with only one road in and out. In the history of the school, which is 100 years old – and I have been here 21 years – nothing like this has happened. It is a sign of the times.

“The door was forced open and the filing cabinet was forced out and the files were all over the floor. It was a disturbing and eerie feeling. The whole incident has left a sense of gloom around the place, even among the children, who are asking ‘Have the bad men been caught?’,” she said.

In the case of all three burglaries, the back or side door of the schools were forced open. All of the break-ins occurred sometime between 7pm on Monday evening, April 15, and 7.30am on Tuesday, April 16.

As well as having to replace the 16 laptops, Mrs McNamara conceded that the school will have to review its security, with CCTV now an inevitability.

“We considered it last year but we postponed it. While the board of management will have to meet to decide from informal talks, it is looking as though we’ll need it. It is something we will have to do and that will have to involve more fundraising. I come out here to work for a couple of hours in the evening and I will hesitate to do that in the future as will the rest of my staff. The burglary has curtailed another part of our life and left us feeling vulnerable. It was a very nasty experience,” she concluded.

Local councillor MicheΡl McNamara said that three burglaries showed how vulnerable rural communities can be, and he called on the Minister for Justice to start recruiting gardaí again.

“It is important especially in rural areas that people feel confident and safe. To see extra gardaí will improve that,” he said. Cllr McNamara added that local schools are a part of rural community life, and he called for substantial sentences to be imposed on anyone who targets them.

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