Banjo stolen on shop street

ArtyC · 02-03-2014 07:40PM #1

Hi,
Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Posting here on behalf of a mate who's a busker. His banjo robbed this morning between 1030 - 1130.... Across from easons

No banjo no work .

It's a long neck, 5 string banjo. Yellow sticker on the case...

Cheers

zarquon · 02-03-2014 08:03PM

ArtyC wrote: »

Hi,
Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Posting here on behalf of a mate who's a busker. His banjo robbed this morning between 1030 - 1130.... Across from easons

No banjo no work .

It's a long neck, 5 string banjo. Yellow sticker on the case...

Cheers

Check local pawn shops as well as adverts.ie and donedeal

ArtyC · 02-03-2014 08:14PM

Been watching them alright. Thanks ! Taken in full view on shop street heart breaking stuff!

washman3 · 02-03-2014 08:26PM

Surely some CCTV in that area. Have you checked with Gardaí/shop owners.
The fact that you know for certain it was between 10.30 and 11.30 will be an enormous help.
This item is probably irreplaceable for the owner, as musicians become totally attached to a particular instrument. Really hope its returned.

ArtyC · 02-03-2014 08:41PM

washman3 wrote: »

Surely some CCTV in that area. Have you checked with Gardaí/shop owners.
The fact that you know for certain it was between 10.30 and 11.30 will be an enormous help.
This item is probably irreplaceable for the owner, as musicians become totally attached to a particular instrument. Really hope its returned.

Reported it to the guards alright but they haven't looked into CCTV as far as I know.... There are loads of cameras so it would amazing to just get it back!

Just posting it up here for him- in case anyone spots it in the meantime- he's a bit lost without it!

dinneenp · 03-03-2014 08:37AM

If this helps I'm presuming this is the banjo (excuse my photo style)

Galway Street Busker by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen), on Flickr

ArtyC · 03-03-2014 08:41AM

That's the one. Thank you.

renegademaster · 03-03-2014 02:04PM

ArtyC wrote: »

Hi,
Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Posting here on behalf of a mate who's a busker. His banjo robbed this morning between 1030 - 1130.... Across from easons

No banjo no work .

It's a long neck, 5 string banjo. Yellow sticker on the case...

Cheers

if you appraoch all the shops, bars etc in that area i'm sure they'll have a look on their cameras for ya, make sure and ask up and down shop st and they can be on the lookout for the banjo or banjo case on the move, the garda might not have the time or be bothered enough to go putting the pieces together and there's nothing stopping a citizen from doing the same job themselves, best of luck

masterp · 03-03-2014 02:54PM

I've posted on twitter and facebook. getting a few retweets. The lads are well known and like by City folk.

ArtyC · 03-03-2014 03:10PM

renegademaster wrote: »

if you appraoch all the shops, bars etc in that area i'm sure they'll have a look on their cameras for ya, make sure and ask up and down shop st and they can be on the lookout for the banjo or banjo case on the move, the garda might not have the time or be bothered enough to go putting the pieces together and there's nothing stopping a citizen from doing the same job themselves, best of luck

Yep this is what he's been doing!! Thanks guys

ArtyC · 03-03-2014 03:10PM

masterp wrote: »

I've posted on twitter and facebook. getting a few retweets. The lads are well known and like by City folk.

Thanks- big banjo surely someone knows

thesandeman · 03-03-2014 03:55PM

Did they actually take the case as well? That case is falling apart so it might be worth keeping an ear open for somebody who might be looking for another one if they are planning on selling the banjo.

mikom · 03-03-2014 04:06PM

Time to start a shop street chase between a pick up truck and a squad car.
That'll flush out the banjo........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8NZbVcqAJk

ArtyC · 03-03-2014 04:20PM

thesandeman wrote: »

Did they actually take the case as well? That case is falling apart so it might be worth keeping an ear open for somebody who might be looking for another one if they are planning on selling the banjo.

Ya case gone as well. Had a big yellow sticker on it. Yeah case is falling apart

ScumLord · 03-03-2014 05:48PM

dinneenp wrote: »

If this helps I'm presuming this is the banjo (excuse my photo style)

Galway Street Busker by Photoblog.ie (Patrick Dinneen), on Flickr

I fixed your picture so that it's easier to recognise who your talking about.

2rkehij30qtza5 · 03-03-2014 06:12PM

Hope he finds it. I saw a bango abandoned on shop street in the same location across from easons a few weeks back..like the busker just left it down and went off for a cup of tea. I remember looking around wondering where the owner was! Has he checked any CCTV in the area.

ArtyC · 03-03-2014 07:12PM

Ayden Short Springtime wrote: »

Hope he finds it. I saw a bango abandoned on shop street in the same location across from easons a few weeks back..like the busker just left it down and went off for a cup of tea. I remember looking around wondering where the owner was! Has he checked any CCTV in the area.

Being checked as far as I know. He asked me to put it here. Try anything at this stage.
Said he'd calling found... Thanks lads

not yet · 03-03-2014 07:53PM

Just back in Dublin after a weekend in Galway, Heard this guy doing his thing on sat he sounded incredible, shame that some little bollix steals something that helps him make a living.

Hope he gets it back soon..

dr.bollocko · 03-03-2014 08:00PM

That guy is an awesome busker.

03-03-2014 08:04PM

On a number of occasions I've seen the banjo just left on the ground and the owner nowhere to be seen. Honestly he was asking for it to be taken at some stage and it may be a case that someone saw it left on the ground with no one around and picked it up

Links234 · 03-03-2014 08:05PM

dr.bollocko wrote: »

That guy is an awesome busker.

And a nice guy too

Really hope he finds it!

Mrs OBumble · 03-03-2014 08:28PM

Deleted User wrote: »

On a number of occasions I've seen the banjo just left on the ground and the owner nowhere to be seen. Honestly he was asking for it to be taken at some stage and it may be a case that someone saw it left on the ground with no one around and picked it up

I'd be 99% sure that's what happened.

However that doesn't actually make it any less wrong to just take it.

Mike747 · 03-03-2014 09:23PM

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'd be 99% sure that's what happened.

However that doesn't actually make it any less wrong to just take it.

No it doesn't, but whenever I played gigs I always kept an eye on my guitar because instruments will walk.

Some scumbag is probably trying to pawn it right now.

inisboffin · 03-03-2014 10:25PM

Ayden Short Springtime wrote: »

Hope he finds it. I saw a bango abandoned on shop street in the same location across from easons a few weeks back..like the busker just left it down and went off for a cup of tea. I remember looking around wondering where the owner was! Has he checked any CCTV in the area.

Yeah I've seen it left too a bunch of times. It's actually made me nervous! Did he leave it to hang on to a pitch or something while he was having refreshments? Yikes! Anyway hope he gets it back soon, it's sh*te for a musician to lose an instrument.

03-03-2014 10:30PM

It sucks for him that his banjo is gone but honestly, if he's willing to leave it abandoned on shop street then he has only himself to blame and it's hard to feel much sympathy for him. I also think that it's unfair to say that it was stolen, he has repeatedly abandoned it on one of the busiest streets in Ireland and hopefully the person who took it will return it or at the very least keep better care of it.

Mrs OBumble · 03-03-2014 11:00PM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I also think that it's unfair to say that it was stolen, he has repeatedly abandoned it on one of the busiest streets in Ireland and hopefully the person who took it will return it or at the very least keep better care of it.

Sorry, but taking something that doesn't belong to you IS stealing. Doesn't matter where that thing is.

And of course he was keeping the pitch: does it like that regularly while he has coffee opposite Anto Ryans.

04-03-2014 12:16AM

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Sorry, but taking something that doesn't belong to you IS stealing. Doesn't matter where that thing is.

And of course he was keeping the pitch: does it like that regularly while he has coffee opposite Anto Ryans.

It was abandoned in the street for a considerable amount of time. Yes taking something that doesn't belong to you is stealing but when something is left in the street it's a somewhat grey area. The owner of the banjo lost it between 10:30 and 11:30 meaning that it was abandoned in the street for a full hour. I wouldn't leave anything of value on the street for more than a few seconds and if he really wanted to keep his place then he should have had a coffee brought to him.

If while walking home tonight someone finds a jacket thrown in the street are the stealing it if they take it home? If the banjo was so important to him then he would have kept better care of it. It's a sad situation for the guy and he comes across as a nice guy but honestly it's hard to have sympathy for someone who would just leave something that's supposedly so precious unattended on one of the countrues busiest streets.

biko · 04-03-2014 07:03AM

It's not a grey area. The banjo was stolen and there is no two ways about it. It's not a jacket found in the middle of the night, let's not compare apples and bananas.

If the owner kept leaving it there (if) then of course someone will steal it eventually "opportunity makes a thief".
I suppose the more often you leave it a while and it doesn't get stolen you kinda tend to trust people, and then one day the wrong person walks past.

Good luck busker guy, hope you find it. Try various music shops and other places that may be a way for the thief to flog it.
http://www.donedeal.ie/find/all/for-sale/Ireland/banjo
http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/q_banjo/

itsirishfarmer · 04-03-2014 07:05AM

put fliers up on lampposts
did he just leave it in the street

biko · 04-03-2014 07:10AM

Right now we don't actually know so it's mostly speculation about what happened.

finlma · 04-03-2014 08:57AM

Deleted User wrote: »

It was abandoned in the street for a considerable amount of time. Yes taking something that doesn't belong to you is stealing but when something is left in the street it's a somewhat grey area.

How is it a grey area? If you parked your car on a street and it was taken it wouldn't be a grey area. It was stolen plain and simple. Give the man more respect than saying he doesn't deserve any sympathy. He's one of the best buskers in the city and doesn't deserve to have his banjo stolen.

Hope its found alive and well.

zarquon · 04-03-2014 09:13AM

It'd no grey area. Taking something you don't own of high value when purposefully left in place is theft plain and simple.

It is wrong however to consistently leave a banjo unattended in order to maintain a place and this was likely to happen at some point. Other buskers have an entitlement too to a place there and it's a good lesson for all involved.

I do hope he gets his banjo back and learns to share the space accordingly.

Fey! · 04-03-2014 02:58PM

Get him to talk to the community warden who was on duty, as well as the guys who were driving the bin emptying van. If it was just left there they may have picked it up and slung it into the back of their van in the course of doing their jobs. If they couldn't see or find an obvious owner it may be safely left aside somewhere.

10:30 on a Sunday morning isn't a hugely busy time around there.

Mrs OBumble · 04-03-2014 03:02PM

Fey! wrote: »

Get him to talk to the community warden who was on duty, as well as the guys who were driving the bin emptying van. If it was just left there they may have picked it up and slung it into the back of their van in the course of doing their jobs. If they couldn't see or find an obvious owner it may be safely left aside somewhere.

10:30 on a Sunday morning isn't a hugely busy time around there.

I'd be very surprised if the CWs and bin-guys aren't already well acquainted with James, and if they didn't know that a pitch-marking banjo outside Easons would be his.

And if surprised also to find a CW on duty at 11am on a Sunday.

Fey! · 04-03-2014 04:55PM

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I'd be very surprised if the CWs and bin-guys aren't already well acquainted with James, and if they didn't know that a pitch-marking banjo outside Easons would be his.

And if surprised also to find a CW on duty at 11am on a Sunday.

There could be one who wouldn't normally be in that area and wouldn't know the locals, and they're around most of the day on Sundays now afaik (I met one Saturday morning on duty at 7:15am).

Either way, it would be a simple thing to check just in case.

inisboffin · 04-03-2014 06:41PM

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And if surprised also to find a CW on duty at 11am on a Sunday.

Yeah I don't think they're on at all on Sunday are they? Isn't that why more people sell stuff on street on Sunday.

I'd agree, they'd probably all know James from around.

chakademus · 05-03-2014 11:22PM

You'd need to be a bad article to swipe a banjo from the street like that- regardless of whether it was manned or not. What the hell is wrong with people in this day and age?

jkforde · 06-03-2014 08:36AM

could one of the residents on the street have taken it to shut him up, a ballady banjo in the morning might not be everyone's cuppa, esp if it's a Sunday morning

ArtyC · 06-03-2014 10:32AM

jkforde wrote: »

could one of the residents on the street have taken it to shut him up, a ballady banjo in the morning might not be everyone's cuppa, esp if it's a Sunday morning

That could be said of all the buskers to be fair. Still not right, it's taking away his work.

It's still missing . Thanks to everyone for looking out for it

Gambas · 06-03-2014 10:49AM

jkforde wrote: »

could one of the residents on the street have taken it to shut him up, a ballady banjo in the morning might not be everyone's cuppa, esp if it's a Sunday morning

Don't think there are any residents on Shop Street anymore. Una could have set the dogs on him if she was still alive though. Hope he gets it back - best busker I've seen in Galway in recent years.

FourFourRED · 06-03-2014 10:58AM

finlma wrote: »

Hope its found alive and well.

Sorry I had to borrow it for something

Mrs OBumble · 06-03-2014 11:56AM

Gambas wrote: »

Don't think there are any residents on Shop Street anymore. Una could have set the dogs on him if she was still alive though. Hope he gets it back - best busker I've seen in Galway in recent years.

I don't know about that exact section of Shop St itself. But there are definitely residents just a little further down in High St, up in Williamsgate St, and people down Church Lane.

In general you can assume that there are people living at the top of most buidlings in the inner city.

It would be lovely if people could remember this when they roll out of the pubs/clubs at night. (But unrealistic I know. And yes, we knew that when we moved in.)

inisboffin · 06-03-2014 02:51PM

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I don't know about that exact section of Shop St itself. But there are definitely residents just a little further down in High St, up in Williamsgate St, and people down Church Lane.

In general you can assume that there are people living at the top of most buidlings in the inner city.

It would be lovely if people could remember this when they roll out of the pubs/clubs at night. (But unrealistic I know. And yes, we knew that when we moved in.)

Yeah I lived in a flat in this area for years. There are more people living in this are than you'd think. Noise starts with street sweepers, continues with kegs for pubs, delivery vans, buskers, clubs and drunks.

TBH It doesn't matter how good the buskers are - you'll always be driven mad by the ones that play contrary to your sleep cycle - and that can be morning OR late night (although the ordinance favours people with 'regular hours').

bodhrandude · 06-03-2014 06:04PM

Jimmy's best bet more than anything if he has not done this already is to put signs around the music session pubs, Taaffes, Tigh Cholis, Neachtains and the Crane bar and the same with select session houses around the country like Cruise's in Ennis, Donaghue's, Hughe's, The White Horse and the Brazen Head in Dublin. I would also put this up in the trad music section of the music forum in Boards and post also on the Session.org discussions forum. Even an email message to Irish Music Magazine as the trad communities tends to rally around and look out for other musicians, especially if their instrument is nicked. I had a German friend in Dublin who had his uilleann pipes nicked, eventually he found them again through friends from the session pubs in Dublin.

bodhrandude · 06-03-2014 06:46PM

I created an OP for this in the Session.org, so there is another source to try and check on, I'll post the link here http://thesession.org/discussions/33475
Hopefully it will show up and good luck.

inisboffin · 06-03-2014 07:33PM

bodhrandude wrote: »

Jimmy's best bet more than anything if he has not done this already is to put signs around the music session pubs, Taaffes, Tigh Cholis, Neachtains and the Crane bar and the same with select session houses around the country like Cruise's in Ennis, Donaghue's, Hughe's, The White Horse and the Brazen Head in Dublin. I would also put this up in the trad music section of the music forum in Boards and post also on the Session.org discussions forum. Even an email message to Irish Music Magazine as the trad communities tends to rally around and look out for other musicians, especially if their instrument is nicked. I had a German friend in Dublin who had his uilleann pipes nicked, eventually he found them again through friends from the session pubs in Dublin.

It's a bluegrass banjo too I believe? So might show up at venues a bit outside the net IF someone nicked it just to play (though unlikely- I'd say to sell if anything). I'd reckon a youngster bored and acting the eejit tbh. Hope it's not in a bin somewhere, that would be a shame.

ArtyC · 06-03-2014 07:42PM

inisboffin wrote: »

It's a bluegrass banjo too I believe? So might show up at venues a bit outside the net IF someone nicked it just to play (though unlikely- I'd say to sell if anything). I'd reckon a youngster bored and acting the eejit tbh. Hope it's not in a bin somewhere, that would be a shame.

That's the worst thought- looked around to see if it was just robbed on a whim and dumped bit haven't had much luck.
Fair play to everyone who's helped

whupdedo · 06-03-2014 07:43PM

dr.bollocko wrote: »

That guy is an awesome busker.

I've seen better buskers, he needs to get a style of his own, he's convinced he's a reincarnation of luke Kelly:rolleyes:

FourFourRED · 06-03-2014 10:15PM

There was literally just an ad for done deal on RTE2 showing them typing "banjo" into the search field. Anyone else see that?

bonzodog2 · 11-03-2014 07:15PM

I saw him playing today, don't know if he got the same banjo back or got another one. The case had a purple lining today.

thesandeman · 11-03-2014 08:51PM

Nah. Still missing. He's using a borrowed one for the moment.

Banjo stolen on shop street

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