AN appeal for information on the theft of valuable Catholic church paintings has not led to a single call.Detectives now believe the gang behind the thefts may be biding their time before attempting to sell them off and could wait for up to a year before making any move.
Local parish priest Fr Michael McNamara said he and the local parish were slowly having to accept that the paintings may never be returned.
"There was not one call after we offered the reward," he said.
The church is now making final inquiries on having replicas of the missing six paintings made.
"We were hoping all the time they would be returned to us, but at this stage we have to accept we may never get them back. If we hear nothing in the next few weeks we will go ahead with the replicas and hope to have them ready for Christmas.
"Detectives believe they are still in the country and the thieves are waiting for an opportunity to sell them on, but it could take a year before anything is done."
The church is also erecting CCTV cameras next week in a bid to avoid any further thefts.
"I hate having to put CCTV in the church but people say we'll have to lock the church during the day if we don't," he added.
The six 'Stations of the Cross', painted by Irish artist Evie Hone, were stolen on June 22.
Gardai believe the theft was carried out by a professional gang after no trace or fingerprint was discovered following the robbery.
The keys to the back door of the church had been stolen one week prior to the incident.
The pieces had not been secured to the wall and no damage was done to the church during the robbery.
Gardai have alerted auction houses in Ireland to be on the lookout. Interpol is also assisting in the investigation.
The six oil paintings stolen depict the scenes from the third, fourth, fifth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth Stations of the Cross.
Anybody with information can call Crimestoppers on 1800 25 00 25