Boat reported missing in Dromineer and engines stolen in Garrykennedy

The joys of the August Bank Holiday weekend were tarnished in the lakeside villages of Garrykennedy and Dromineer when two engines were stolen and a boat went missing.

An appeal got underway on Monday last after a boat was reported missing from Dromineer and two outboard engines were stolen from vessels moored in Garrykennedy.

The thieves made off with a Yamaha 9.9 horsepower and a 6-horsepower Johnson engine from the latter village harbour.

The boat missing from Dromineer was later recovered.

This is not the first time that engines have been stolen from villages around Lough Derg.

Over the past two decades several outboard engines have gone missing from boats all around the shores of Derg and from other lakes and sea harbours across Ireland.

In many cases the organised criminals resort to radical measures, such as using band saws to cut the entire back off boats in order to steal engines that have been bolted and locked to the vessels by their owners.

Thefts from boathouses have forced angling and boating clubs to fork out considerable expenditure to set up alarm and other security systems in a bid to keep the criminals at bay.

Dromineer, Killaloe, and many other areas have also been targeted for engine thefts over the past decade or so.