Leslie Scott, Yard Officer with Lisnaskea Livestock sales
CRIMINALS have ransacked a local cattle mart in an act that could cost thousands. The wholescale criminal damage was discovered by dismayed staff yesterday morning (Tuesday)at Lisnaskea mart.
Local butcher, Clive Richardson, told the Herald: “Everything was just debris. They had even lit a fire in the centre of the cattle rings to make themselves more comfortable. Everything, from the canteen, the offices to the ring side and the old staircase, just pure vandalism. I can’t remember seeing a door that wasn’t off its hinges.”
The cattle sale went on in another part of the mart and, according to the auctioneer, Edwin Boyd (Clogher Mart), 100 cattle went through.
“We’re used to taking knocks,” he told the Herald. “It’s not a problem. We’re very adaptable and it’s business as usual next Tuesday.”
However, everyone else we spoke to was not as philosophical.
Ronnie Farrell, who is chairman of the Lisnaskea Fairs and Markets Trustees, which owns the mart building, told us: “The whole thing is thrashed for the sake of thrashing. Nothing stolen. And, this isn’t the first time. It’s nearly getting like the Wild West because the police know these guys and their moves and they can’t do a hate with them.”
The damage was noticed at 9 o’clock yesterday when the mart opened for business, and one of the first to be told was Mr Richardson.
“I was told by the staff but there have been as many as 30 such incidents in the last 12 years, so it’s becoming a pattern, from one generation to the next.”
It seems that the mart premises, unused six days of the week, have become a popular drinking den for local youths.
And, local businesswoman, Alma Kinnear, ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, wants the community to unite to put a stop to it.
“As one elderly gentleman said to me: these guys are not farmers, never have been and never will, they had no respect for either cattle or the farming community. We don’t want to lose the mart in Lisnaskea. There’s an awful lot of people depending on it. The police are doing everything they can but, they will say it’s hard getting these guys on the job.”
A police spokesman confirmed the ‘burglary’ at the mart premises the night before, with access gained through the roof.
“We would be very keen to make sure these people are dealt with. We will take positive action. There is (DNA) evidence at the scene and, hopefully, these people will be identified.”
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