Dine and dashers left behind wallet, bank card, ID and bag of clothes after fleeing restaurant

Restaurant owner Eileen Finucane was so angry at the brazenness of the lads that she posted a picture of the wallet and their bill on social media — and handed over all the evidence to gardai.

Eileen, who owns the popular Kitty O Se’s Seafood And Grill restaurant in Killarney, says the incident happened last Sunday when the five guys scarpered without paying their €111.80 bill.

Among the items they enjoyed were two fish and chips, two steak ciabatta sandwiches, one prawn stir fry, beer battered onion rings, a pint of Heineken, a bottle of Coors and a bottle of still water.

“Happy Father’s Day,” she posted on Facebook with a smiley emoji.

“To the guys who had a meal here today in Kitty’s and decided not to pay for their meal there is a God. You left a bag of clothes and one of your wallets with your PTSB card and other cards that identify you.

“You are also on CCTV, even though you decided to sit outside in the sun. I wonder why.

“Oh yes, you can pick up your wallet whenever suits you, but not at Kitty’s! In Killarney Garda station. Would have been cheaper if you paid. Clowns,” she added with emojis.

Eileen has had almost 300 shares of her post and has been inundated with praise for her actions.

One follower said: “Good for you Eileen, there are some scumbags out there” and some urged her to tap the card for €50 a few times to pay for the bill.

“I was tempted to take the money off the card, but I decided to let the Guards deal with it as I would have been in trouble with them maybe,” Eileen told the Sunday World. “The Guards told me off for putting it on Facebook, but I said to them ‘it’s lucky I didn’t put their bloody picture on Facebook’.”

Eileen, who is from Listowel and lived in England for decades, has been running Kitty’s for five years.

It won a local Restaurant Of The Year award and has had a recent visit from comedian Dara Ó Briain.

“This happened about noon last Sunday,” Eileen says.

“The group of five guys were aged about 19 or 20 and were the first ones in. They were definitely Irish.

“They knew what they were doing when they came in. They sat outside, although it was a beautiful day. But they sat at the end table, so they could get off and run and they’d be away before anyone knew they were gone.”

Similar incidents have happened twice before in her premises — once involving two people and another time with a trio.

“I didn’t report it to the Guards those times as it wasn’t worth the hassle,” she says.

“This time around they left a bag of clothes and a wallet with a bank card and their ID card.

“He had a bit of cash in his wallet too, but I just thought ‘you know what, I’m just going to turn the whole lot over to the Guards, you never know who you’re dealing with’.

“It’s happened twice before but this time around he left a calling card. We also had them on CCTV and there’s good images of them.

“I thought ‘they have to be taught a lesson and made an example of’. I want my money, that’s all I want.”

Although the bill was not huge, Eileen insists she has a business to run.

“I know it’s happened here in Killarney before and there’s been images posted, but I didn’t do that. I was tempted to put the CCTV up, but I just said I’d talk to the Guards,” she adds.

“You wouldn’t think about €20 each was too much to pay for them. You can’t have any business without CCTV now as you don’t know what people are going to do.”

Eileen, who lost her husband Seamus to Covid at the start of the pandemic, says her staff have tried to catch up with dine and dashers.

“We ran after them before and it was no good. I told my staff if they run let them run, don’t even attempt to follow them.

“People said to me ‘maybe they forgot to pay’ and I said ‘well if you forgot to pay and you left your wallet, you’d come back’. Of course they knew what they were doing.”

Eileen’s experience comes in the wake of similar high profile incidents in the UK.

An Irish couple living in Wales, Ann and Bernard McDonagh, were last month jailed for “cynically and brazenly” carrying out a string of dine and dash offences at numerous restaurants, racking up large bills for food and drink before leaving without paying.

Swansea Crown Court heard how Ann (39) and Mayo man Bernard McDonagh (41), from Port Talbot, had defrauded restaurants and a takeaway in south Wales.

The court was told the couple was from a “very large Travelling community” and the judge criticised them for reinforcing negative stereotypes.

Ann was jailed for 12 months, while Bernard was given an eight month sentence.

The pair dishonestly obtained food and drink at four restaurants and one takeaway in south Wales, with the unpaid bills totalling more than £1,000.

Their ruse would involve Ann presenting a ‘dud’ card. When it was declined, they said they would fetch some cash but never returned.

Adrian Cummins, CEO of the Restaurants Association of Ireland says the problem in this country is thankfully not as prevalent as it is in the UK.

“You’d see isolated cases,” he concedes. “I think Irish people are generally by and large honest, but you have a proportion in every society who unfortunately are dishonest.

“I would advise all businesses to have CCTV if they can just to cover themselves for such incidents.”

A Garda spokesperson said investigations into a theft in Killarney are ongoing.