Community lights dimmed by theft

Thomas Lyons

Shercock is coming to terms with a theft that has damaged the focal point the community.

“All the good work we have done in 2017 has been undone in one act of wanton vandalism,” Jody Clarke chairman of Shercock Football Development committee said, expressing the dismay of every member of the club regarding the theft of the floodlight transformers at O'Hagan Park.
Jody was counting the cost of replacing the eight transformers that power the club's lighting system at the sports ground.
“The lights were installed 15 years ago by my brother Paul. We had no call to use the lights all year, so we don't know when it happened. We had a reserve championship final last week between Drumgoon and Knockbride. We needed to turn on the lights for the last 10 minutes and when I switched them on nothing happened,” he explained to the Celt.
“We thought it was fused. We got a registered electrician in last Monday and he checked it. When he looked at the transformers eight out of ten of them were gone. They just cut them out,” Jody said with dismay.
The motive for the theft of the power units, which are no bigger than a home computer, remains a mystery.
“A number of years ago they may have had a scrap value, because there is copper in them, but there is not that much value in scrap any more,” said Jody. “I believe that they are actually worthless now.”
The club now find themselves in a difficult situation: “Our problem is to replace them. The transformers are no longer available, so we have to replace the entire lighting system. It has to be a complete overhaul.”
The theft will have a significant affect on the club.
“This year we put a development committee in place. We tidied up the car park at the front and had planning permission to surface it and extend our dressing rooms.
“To fund this we a breakfast morning and a golf classic. We raised in excess of €20,000 and as of today we have been hit with this bill and we don't know where it is going to stop. All the good work we have done in 2017 has been undone in one act of wanton vandalism,” Jody said.
The club have received estimates for a new system, but believe that in order to replace what was there it will cost in excess of €5,000.
“That would be for a temporary job. We have men's, ladies' and camogie teams still standing in their respective championships. They have to train somewhere. We now have an issue where we will have to rent facilities just to finish out the season,” the chairman of Shercock Football Development committee explained.
Jody says that the theft of the transformers was not an isolated event.
“We have a great community here. We had a Cúl camp where over 150 children participated, we had the first ever championship final and we have never had bigger playing numbers. But there has been a number of recent thefts. I am self employed and my own unit was broken into. Over the course of the summer we have experienced a number of break-ins, something we never had before.”
Gardaí in Bailieborough are investigating the matter and are urging anyone who with information to contact them on 042 969 4570.