Worshippers attending Mass were given another reminder to be careful of their belongings this week, after opportunistic thieves went on a spree in a County Laois village and robbed parishioners’ cars and the priest’s house while Mass was in progress.
Cars parked outside St Brigid’s Church in Ballinakill were burgled while the owners were inside for the Saturday evening vigil Mass and the parochial house was ransacked.
A handbag and other personal items were reported to have been taken from one car but fortunately nothing is known to be missing from the priest’s house.
Parish priest Fr Sean Conlon, whose house was entered, warned parishioners that they should not leave valuables in their cars in the car park.
He said that the warning did not just apply to people going to Mass.
"Do not leave anything on view - even in petrol stations, you have people leaving their keys in cars,” he remarked. “You could be number three in the queue to pay but by then the car could be halfway to Dublin," he said.
Gardaí investigating the incidents in Ballinakill are also following up other instances of thefts from cars in Co Laois recently from motorists who failed to heed warnings about the danger of leaving valuables in their cars.
These include complaints that thieves broke into two cars outside a school in Abbeyleix in the middle of the day and that a car was also broken into in Portlaoise one night.
A car left at a forest park while its owner went for a walk was also targeted and personal items were stolen.
SIC: CIN/IE
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