‘We are terrorised’: Roaming burglars hold Longford businesses to ransom

Seamus Gilchriest, who runs Edgeworthstown restaurant Bia Deas alongside his wife Joan, said he was facing up to a sizable loss in revenue after thieves broke into his Pound Street premises during the early hours of last Sunday morning.

Seamus was forced to forego a day's takings and undertake a substantial clean up operation after a rear window was forced in by what gardaí believe was a sole male intruder.

"He (thief) tried to disarm the cameras and didn't realise we had a separate Eircom Phonewatch alarm which alerted us and the guards," he said.

Major Longford tourism project includes construction of new marina and houses

Consecutive prison sentences for man in Edgeworthstown drug trial

Significant sentence: Man jailed for four years following drugs trial

Due to the sophisticated nature of the premises' alarm system, the thief was forced to flee the scene empty handed.

Despite those assurances, Seamus revealed how he, like other hard pressed business owners, are on tenterhooks after a number of other, similar type incidents were allegedly reported in recent weeks.

"The town has been terrorised by it (break-ins) and the guards are doing their best," he contended.

"I invested €45,000 of mine and my wife's own money last year and we extended the seating area because of Covid.

"If I didn't invest it last year, I would have turned the key today and walked away."

The local business owner blamed the recent upsurge in crime on a string of closely aligned factors.

Among them, he maintained, was the lack of a sitting local councillor allied with the need for an increasing garda presence on the streets of the mid Longford town.

“We are going to have to set up a committee,” he said.

“The guards are overworked and understaffed and we don’t have a local representative in the town either.

“The closest we have are (Cllr) Paul Ross in Legan and (Senator) Micheal Carrigy in Ballinalee.

“Whatever else happens, we (local community) need a local representative in the town of Edgeworthstown.

“This (increase in break-ins) needs to stop because it will close businesses.”

A garda spokesperson confirmed an investigation into the circumstances behind last Sunday’s incident is underway, revealing also of how alleged criminal damage had been caused to the building.