Father of bride warns others of despicable thieves in car-park
By Mary Dennehy
THE father of a bride who had her wedding weekend and honeymoon suitcases stolen from a parked car outside St Anne’s Church in Bohernabreena has issued a warning to the community.
Tallaght dad Eamon Carroll was attending his daughter’s wedding in the picturesque Bohernabreena church when three cars, including his own, were broken into and valuables stolen.
Significant damage was done to all three cars, including smashed windscreens, with three suitcases, belonging to Eamon’s daughter for her wedding weekend and honeymoon, also among the valuables stolen.
“We discovered the damage after leaving the wedding ceremony,” Eamon said.
“We were obviously targeted because we were at a wedding, the guys had it sussed – they knew we would be in the church for a while and that there would be valuables and suitcases in the cars.
“St Anne’s church is also quite isolated, so they had plenty of time to move around the cars.”
Eamon added: “I was heartbroken when I discovered that all of my daughter’s belongings for the weekend and her honeymoon were gone and it definitely put a dampener on things.
“I was also two hours late to the wedding party because I had to wait for the Gardaí to arrive.
“However, all of the guests rallied around us, some of the guests even went out and bought my daughter some new clothes, and we put everything behind us and had a great day.”
The car-park is owned by South Dublin County Council and in recent weeks Eamon has contacted them about introducing CCTV or signage – to warn people not to leave valuables in cars.
“I have been in touch with the council over the past three weeks and they keep telling me to put a claim form in,” Eamon said.
“If I can get a few shillings back from this great, but my main concern is raising awareness for other people using the church.
“Lots of Tallaght families use this church for weddings and I would hate for another bride and groom to be faced with a similar situation on their wedding day.
“Thieves are obviously targeting the car-park during weddings and I believe that there is an onus on the council to make sure that people are made aware.”
He added: “We are not the first family to have cars broken into at this location and the council should be trying to prevent it from happening again.
“A few signs are not going to break the bank, but unfortunately I have received no reply from the council, so I’ve been forced to raise awareness through The Echo.”
Confirming the incident, a Garda spokesman said that the criminal damage and theft occurred between the hours of 1pm and 2.30pm – with the wedding providing opportunistic culprits with a lengthy window of time.
South Dublin County Council did not reply to The Echo in time for print
