GAA club’s floodlights may have been stolen for cannabis hot house

The thieves had to scale wooden poles more than 40 feet high in order to access the floodlights which they then lowered to the ground using the electric cables that powered them.

The incident took place at Cortoon Shamrocks GAA Club grounds in Brownsgrove and Gardaí are of the impression that the thefts took place during daylight hours as it would have been highly dangerous to do so at night.

And there is some speculation that the lighting equipment stolen from the pitch will be used in illegal cannabis growhouses. Otherwise there would be a very limited market for what was taken in the raid.

It is understood that the raid of the electrical equipment took place sometime between 8pm on Monday and 8pm on Wednesday of last week.

Members of the Cortoon senior team turned up for training on Wednesday evening and were shocked to discover that the floodlights were not work. On closer examination it was determined that a major theft had taken place.

There were two floodlights on each of the four poles in the ground and the light fittings and transformers were removed from them all. It would have taken some considerable amount of time for this process to take place.

It is estimated that the electrical equipment stolen was worth in the region of €3,000 and it will cost around €5,000 to have them replaced, according to senior club officials.

The thieves are understood to have used harnesses and stirrups – similar to those used by ESB workers – to clime the wooden poles and then used the electrical cables to lower the cases containing the lights. They measure around 18” by 12” and are quite heavy.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune