THE newly elected Mayor of Wexford, Mr Dominic Kiernan, who began his term of office a fortnight ago by calling for a clampdown on crime, has had his gold chain of office stolen in a burglary at his home.
The Fianna Fail councillor's home at Avondale Drive in Wexford was burgled yesterday.old. It was in a locked briefcase which was taken from Mr Kiernan's office along with a video cassette recorder.
The robbery took place while the mayor, a well-known Wexford businessman, and his wife, Betty, were asleep in bed. It was reported to the Garda at 7.30 a.m.
The solid gold chain was first worn by a Wexford mayor in 1853 and the names of all the subsequent mayors are inscribed on the links. It is valued at Pounds 25,000 but considered irreplaceable.
Mr Kiernan, who highlighted drug abuse and crime as the priority issues of his term of office on the night he took possession of the chain, yesterday appealed for it to be returned. "Someone may have taken the briefcase without realising what was in it," he said. "If that is the case, I would ask them to leave it somewhere."