A County Wexford Friary has urged the public to be vigilant for bogus collectors purporting to be collecting on their behalf.
Wexford Franciscan Friary secretary Patrick Beary said that a number
of cases of bogus collectors for the Friary have come to their attention
in recent days and that all matters have been referred to the Gardaí.
He said that in one such incident, a woman walking on Wexford's Main
Street was approached by a man who claimed that the Friary Guardian Fr
Aidan was leaving and that he was collecting money for a fundraiser.
Mr Beary claimed that after this incident and a number of similar
incidents the Friary has made a formal complaint to Gardaí and has
issued a public statement.
It states that, “There is no collection taking place on behalf of the Friary and that Fr Aidan is not leaving.”
The statement also added that, “the only collection that we have is
for the Friary Heating Fund and for that we receive donations. We do
not go around doing door-to-door collections.”
It is also believed that Gardaí in Wexford Town are investigating a
number of incidents of door-to-door bogus Friary collectors this week.
The Wexford Friary is one of the County's most historical buildings and
dates back as far as 1230.
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