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Stopping trespassers

  • 04-04-2022 2:35pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 6


    Hello, I'm new here and hopefully I posted in the correct section.

    I'm having an issue with people using some of my land without my permission. People walking dogs and more importantly people cycling and making ramps etc on the land.

    Bit of background. I let one fellow who grew up with my son use the land to exercise his two German Shepherds, off lead no muzzle etc as they are well trained and all that. I have known him for over 20 years and I offered him use of the field. The field has stones dumped into it, some trees and bush area, basically I never had much interest in cleaning up the field for a few reasons. He offered to pay for using it, which I refused but he always gives me a few sleeves of cigarettes when he comes back from holidays and whiskey and a hamper at Xmas. He is the only one I gave permission to well his wife as well.

    Other people with less well trained dogs seem to think its fine to walk their dogs in this field now. There can be calves and lambs (not mine) in the surrounding fields and some of these people don't seem to have manners or control on their dogs which is something I dislike as it's probably only a matter of time until an accident occurs. Now there is lads racing bikes around the field and jumping ramps. I have approached people and either got a sorry or some colourful language of them. I put up signs, a lock on the gate that only I and the person I gave permission to have a key for, but after that the ramps started to appear.

    Yesterday, when I was on the tractor I seen the person who has permission to use the field going in the direction of the field so I went down for a chat and see how he was. Next thing I see some clown on a bike nearly crash into one of his dogs and he proceed to throw a rock at the dog and I just lost the plot completely.

    The local Garda has zero interest in doing anything. Signs and a lock are useless. I don't have the time to sit there waiting for people to show up to stop them.

    Any ideas on what to do next?



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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 299 ✭✭Vittu


    Spread slurry on it



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,454 ✭✭✭dobman88


    Pop down with a gun over your shoulder if you hold a licence and tell them next time you'll be firing it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 34,279 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Is the field fenced off? How are the people with the bikes and the ramps getting in?



  • Registered Users Posts: 15,630 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    Good way of getting the guards interested in your case, for all the wrong reasons.

    Maybe have the gun taken off you too.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,454 ✭✭✭dobman88


    Is someone not entitled to use a licenced firearm to protect their land from trespassers and potential animal attacks?

    That's a genuine question because I have no idea but I assume they would and can't see a reason why they wouldn't.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 6 damn neighbours


    Stone walls all round. Lifting bikes (mountain bikes not motorbikes) over the gate. Ramps are either small light plywood or branches tied together to go over small mounds



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,407 ✭✭✭Ginger83


    I second slurry, preferably pig slurry.

    Do you mean scrambler bikes? If so plough it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6 damn neighbours


    I don't have a gun which is probably for the best.



  • Registered Users Posts: 15,630 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    You're in the wrong country for having a gun for 'home dee-fense'.

    In any case the OP doesn't have a gun.



  • Registered Users Posts: 34,279 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    Any chance of putting some farm animals in there temporarily or is the ground too unsuitable in it's current state?

    Mountain bikers definitely won't want to cycle around a field covered in cow shite. Even if you just had a few animals for a bit to turn them off they might just move on somewhere else and then forget about your field.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 6,454 ✭✭✭dobman88


    Fair enough. I dont get the "home Dee-fense" reference? And yeah, moot point as he doesn't have one anyway. I grew up in a rural area and would never dream of crossing a field unless I knew who owned it and knew it was safe to do so or had permission.

    Always assumed farmers had the right to use a gun to protect their land from trespassers so you saying they dont is an interesting one for me



  • Registered Users Posts: 791 ✭✭✭CreadanLady


    The only thing those sort of veiled threats will achieve is the Gardai on your doorstep and forfeiture of your gun and licence.

    There really is limited list of things you can do.

    1. Fence off the land with palisade fencing, with you and that chap having the keys.
    2. reclaim the land and plant it with forestry, with a more modest fence

    At the end of the day the field is now seen as a borderline public amenity with people going in and out willy nilly. The only thing that will stop them is to fundamentally change the perception of the place.

    The MFV Creadan Lady is a mussel dredger from Dunmore East.



  • Registered Users Posts: 791 ✭✭✭CreadanLady


    No.

    There are 3 potential legitimate uses possible for guns in this country. Pest control. Hunting. Gun clubs. Literally any other use whatsoever is illegal and will almost always result in confiscation of the gun and forfeiture of your licence if caught.

    This isn't the USA. Thankfully.

    The MFV Creadan Lady is a mussel dredger from Dunmore East.



  • Registered Users Posts: 15,630 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    No they don't, unless that trespasser is a dog. Guards take a very dim view of using guns to threaten a person, even in in jest.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6 damn neighbours


    I suppose the best thing to do is bring it the digger some evening and see if I can make it less desirable for bikes.

    What happens if they break a bone in the field? With signs and a lock have I liable?



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,611 ✭✭✭Mooooo


    Make sure you have public liability insurance anyway. Stick away up signs if you want but they have feckall legal defense afaik. Best prob to put up a decent fence and reclaim the field for some form of use of your own.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6 damn neighbours


    I'm covered all right but don't want insurance premium to go through the roof with a claim or a few of them.



  • Registered Users Posts: 107 ✭✭James2022


    We covered the top of our gates in barbed wire and in some areas added an extra piece of strained barbed wire over the top. We also got mesh gates on the roads that you can't get a foothold in and animals can't go through. That was the end of people trying to get in. It's all legal since its stock proofing the boundaries and is not done with the intention to harm trespassers, it also isn't a hidden danger.


    What you need to do is get a digger in and reclaim the field. If not possible then get a tanker or slurry spread after you dispose of all the ramps.


    It depends what happened. Say the person set up a ramp and injured themselves. In that case the trespasser put themselves in danger and the landowner wouldn't be held liable. They are at fault in the eyes of the law and the case would be thrown out, many examples of this online. You could also easily sue for trespassing/littering etc if you were inclined. If you have notified the guards about trespassers then that is a large amount of evidence in your favour.


    Now if you were to dig a trench before the ramp or set up barbed wire across a track to catch one of them then you are in the wrong. That would be clear you were aware of trespassing and set up a way to injure them. The law in Ireland is that your farm must be safe. Same way you can't have bear traps set up in your own house. The law states you have a duty of care to trespassers, meaning you can't intentionally harm them.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,039 ✭✭✭The Continental Op


    Grease all over the top of the gate? Or anti climb/vandal paint https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blackfriar-Climb-Vandal-Paint-Black/dp/B0091T7NGU/

    Just leave enough clear to get the padlock off and open the gate without getting covered in it.

    Wake me up when it's all over.



  • Registered Users Posts: 791 ✭✭✭CreadanLady


    Finally, the voice of reason and sense. Take good heed of that post above OP.

    And ignore the juvenile nonsense of swaggering around with a shotgun under your arm 'Murica style. If you did that, a few lads making ramps for mountain bikes would be the least of your worried while you are up in front of a judge for using your gun to intimidate someone.

    The MFV Creadan Lady is a mussel dredger from Dunmore East.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,424 ✭✭✭cjpm


    Plough it. Get rid of all stones rocks branches etc. Then reseed it. Make it as boring and unappealing as possible. Also say no to the original fella with the Alsatians. It’s not worth the trouble



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Just curious, if the OP knows there's ramps there and doesn't take steps to remove them, does his liability change? If a different person got injured on one of the ramps, that they just happened across, where is the liability resting then?

    OP, You need to make it very clear you aren't consenting to the land being used. I'd go so far as to either rent it (for a nominal sum perhaps) to the guy you are happy to have use it and let him insure it or clear and plough the field and re-secure it fully.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,096 ✭✭✭jimini0


    Accidentally connect a battery electric fence to the gate. Hide the unit out of sight. A wallop of electricity will help deter them from the gate. Tell your friend who you let use the field first though.



  • Registered Users Posts: 18,013 ✭✭✭✭Bass Reeves


    I somehow think this is am unused field at the edge of a large urban area. It's has been used as a dumping ground historically for builders rubble. This type of neglected land always attracts near do wells. A couple of the rough boys with horses are your best bet.

    PS there is one other options, 10 -12 JE or JEx 2year old bulls. Nobody will go into a field with them

    Slava Ukrainii



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,424 ✭✭✭cjpm


    They are like hell. Try getting them out once they’re in.



  • Registered Users Posts: 791 ✭✭✭CreadanLady


    Again, an electric fence and gate during like that will have you up in front of a judge when the wrong person gets a rap off it and sees that it was deliberately wired up to hurt someone. That's assault you could be up for. And if you're very very unlucky someone with a weak heart or pacemaker could die from a shock like that that would be nothing to you or I.

    Op ignore ludicrously bad and dangerous advice like this. It'll only get you into trouble. Potentially very serious trouble.

    The MFV Creadan Lady is a mussel dredger from Dunmore East.



  • Registered Users Posts: 28,908 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Sounds like young people on bikes? I had a few in last year, I went to their parents, I didn't go mad just said , they have no permission to be there and what happens if they get injured. That was the end of it



  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,337 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    Put up a sign with a "Warning: Danger ahead, do not cross" at all entrances, and fencing, keep pulling the ramps down and they will get bored.If you put up an electric fence, same thing, put up a sign. You know people are using it and you have a legal obligation to them whether you like it or not (I don't agreee but it is what it is). The signs up wil mitigate in case of an accident. The tresspassers will be prosecuted signs won't give you any such mitigation.

    The silly suggestions above about wiring the gate or the gun will end you up in front of a judge, and you will have an assault charge on your record at the very least.

    The regrettable thing is that you knowing about it makes it more difficult for you if something does happens so act now, get it sorted and be done with it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 28,908 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Apparently if you have danger on a sign, it's admitting there is danger . Caution is a better word



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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭Bellview


    getting the JE or JeX out could be as tough😀



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