Ciarán Ó HIarnáin: "We were off our guard. We were tired and we should never have left the bikes outside" (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Jessica Lamb
A cyclist who had his bike stolen during a coffee stop, but which was recovered in five days, has praised the Gardai for their efforts.
However, he warned other riders that keeping bikes in sight during coffee stops is "not enough" in the war against bike thieves.
Ciarán Ó HIarnáin and Nigel Sweeney from St Tiernan’s Cycling Club in Dundrum, south Dublin, stopped at a cafe on the main street in Dunlavin, Co Wicklow, last Saturday afternoon with four club mates.
They stacked three bikes in front of the window and three adjacent, resting on a wall, out of sight from inside the cafe.
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When they sat down to drink their coffees, ride leader David Corr noticed something was amiss and stood up to try to view the six bikes, but two were gone.
The cafe owner, local shopkeepers, and local Gardai helped the cyclists search for the bikes for the next two hours.
The machines were still missing on Wednesday, but Gardai continued to pursue the case.
And with the help of an eyewitness the thief’s identity was uncovered, providing enough evidence for a search warrant to be issued on Thursday morning.
The bikes are alleged to have been found in the suspect’s bedroom when the search took place.
Ó HIarnáin was delighted to be reunited with his Lapierre Sensium, but says he has learnt a valuable lesson the hard way.
Nigel Sweeney on his BH, which was stolen in Dunlavin last Saturday and recovered by Gardai on Thursday (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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“There are two things I am taking from this,” said Ó HIarnáin. “Firstly that you cannot be complacent and leave your bikes out of sight.
"Secondly that the Gardai have done a fantastic job, particularly Mark Pender from Dunlavin Garda Station, who I was dealing with.”
Expanding on the turn of events, he added: “We were off our guard. We had just done the rolling hills around Hollywood and we were tired.
"We should never have left the bikes outside. I remember being out one day with about nine of us and stopping for coffee and [clubmate] Louis Twomey stood outside minding the bikes for 30 minutes.
“Dave [Corr] had a really expensive bike out there on Saturday [parked at the window] and it made me think that if there was someone who recognised an expensive bike they could have ridden off with it just as easily as they could have taken ours, even though it was in sight.
"I’m not sure now if having bikes in sight is enough. You have to be close enough to stop it happening if you aren’t able to use a lock.”
Sweeney seconded Ó HIarnáin's remarks saying: "The Gardai and local community have my gratitude. I think they were very proactive in getting the bikes back."
The alleged thief was spotted by a local person cycling one of the stolen bikes on the pavement hurriedly.
He later returned to the scene and was questioned by Gardai but claimed to know nothing about the incident.
It is believed he was known to Gardai and that led to the search warrant that recovered the bikes.
Two suspects are set to be arrested and the bikes are being held as evidence in the event that they are needed during questioning. They are expected to be reunited with their riders next week.
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