Cattle theft to bring review of security at National Stud

A REVIEW of security at the Irish National Stud in Co Kildare will examine how, early yesterday morning, raiders got away with…

A REVIEW of security at the Irish National Stud in Co Kildare will examine how, early yesterday morning, raiders got away with over half the cattle that graze there, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, has said. The cattle are valued between £52,000 and £56,000.

Two lorries and a car were used in the raid, which took place at 3 a.m., gardai said yesterday. There are 140 cattle in the National Stud and the raiders took 80. A local man noticed the lorries on the road, which he thought suspicious at that time of the morning, and called the National Stud. Gardai were alerted about 15 minutes later.

Mr John Fitzsimons, chairman of the IFA's Farm Business Committee, visited the National Stud yesterday morning. He estimated that the cattle would be worth about £650 a head. Mr Fitzsimons said they were not fat enough to be sold to meat factories. He expected the raiders would have to dispose of them through the marts or possibly as live shipments.

A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture said Mr Yates was satisfied security arrangements at the National Stud were constantly monitored, but they would have to be reviewed again in the light of the raid.

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The cattle were not for breeding, the spokesman added. They formed part of the business operations of the National Stud.

It is almost a year since the last theft of cattle from a State owned property. On January 9th last year, 40 cattle were stolen from a research centre owned by the Department of Agriculture at Abbotstown, Co Dublin. They included a number which had been seized by the Department after being smuggled into the State.

Some of the cattle taken in the Abbotstown raid were also being tested for the presence of illegal growth promoters.

Mr Kevin Callanan, assistant general secretary of IMPACT, the trade union which represents 1,600 Department of Agriculture staff, said the theft from the National Stud was different from last year's incident at Abbotstown, but their members were still concerned that legislation on seized animals was inadequate.

Mr Yates promised last year to draw up an amendment to the legislation to deal with cattle smuggling. Mr Callanan said yesterday that so far as he was aware the legislation has not been amended. "Certainly, our union has not been consulted about it".

The cattle in the National Stud were introduced to graze the land as the thoroughbred horses kept there need grassland that is constantly rotated.