*Persons involved are known to Gardaí.
A SHOP assistant at a petrol station in Ennis has reported being the subject of death threats, physical attacks and abuse on a daily basis.
By Dearbhla Parry
The employee of a busy service station on the Clare Road in Ennis, who wishes to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, admitted to The Clare Echo that numerous complaints have been filed to local Gardaí over the continuing anti-social behaviour.
The employee told The Clare Echo that the premises is robbed “every single day” and while staff members receive “death threats most days”.
They said that the individuals responsible are “always the same people”, ranging from “three-year-olds to 60-year-olds”. Incidents they spoke about included people driving off without paying, egging, death threats, and shoplifting. They said, “They just come in with gear bags and fill it up”.
The employee said this behaviour has escalated since they began their employment, despite initially calling Gardaí two to three times a week.
They explained, “It’s definitely gotten worse, especially with kids… Somebody needs to step in for them because otherwise this is literally going to be their whole life”.
“I’ve genuinely seen parents teach their kids how to rob in that shop. It’s insanity”.
One incident that was reported included an alleged assault which took place on Good Friday, April 18, 2025, confirmed by Gardaí to have occurred at 3:30pm. The employee told The Clare Echo that two families walked into the shop with sticks and started “whacking each other”.
“They smashed one of our shelves and started hitting each other with that. They went outside and crashed their cars into each other.” Whilst waiting for Gardaí to arrive at the scene, the staff locked themselves in the back of the shop for an hour and watched the cameras, “just in case anyone actually did get badly hurt”.
Another incident they spoke of involved two youths aged in their late teens waiting for staff to finish their shifts at 10pm every evening. They said, “They brought loads of their friends, they egged my car, they threw a full can of Red Bull at me one day, and tried to punch me one day.” These boys come back to the shop every day, “Not so much during the day, but the night shift”.
They said, “The shop reports everything. Once we report it, there isn’t anything more we can do except wait for the guards to do something.” However, the staff do receive training to prepare for those situations. The employee said, “I’m so used to it now, I literally don’t even bat an eyelid anymore.” They said that these people come by so often that they now know them all by name, and that Gardaí are aware.
