A CARRIGART woman has told of how her car, along with four others, was broken into while attending a match at Croke Park over the weekend.
Jackie Harkin, along with her 12-year-old daughter and family, was returning from watching her native Meath defeat Derry and then Donegal’s victory over Dublin in the National Football League when they discovered their car had been targeted.
The vehicle had been parked in the Parkway Car Park next to the train station on the Navan Road, on the outskirts of Dublin. The car park is popular for GAA fans attending matches.
“A few families got off the train together, and as we walked down, we heard a child scream from the back of the car park. We weren’t sure what was going on.
“I went to open my boot, and the alarm started going off. My daughter then asked why the seats were down and that’s when we noticed the back window had been smashed.”
Speaking to the Donegal News Jackie described how her glove box had been rummaged through, her daughter’s schoolbag was turned inside out and their luggage had been stolen from their boot.
She added that a Nintendo Switch that a child had received for Christmas had been stolen from another car.
“Five cars had been broken into in the car park, and they were all Donegal reg cars,” she said.
The Gardaí were called to the scene and took statements from the affected families. They revealed that several cars had already been targeted that morning and that similar incidents had been occurring daily in the days leading up to the weekend.
They also explained that the car park’s CCTV system had been out of operation since October, despite signs stating that the area is under surveillance.
Jackie and the other affected families reached out to Irish Rail but were informed that the responsibility for the car park lies with a private company. Despite contacting the company directly, the families received no response.
At the time of going to print, Donegal News had also contacted the company, but had not received a reply.
