Fear of identity theft after break-in at college
BIRTH certificates and other personal details including bank drafts and cheques from around 20 teacher training applicants have been stolen from a college.
The break-in at St Patrick's College of Education in Drumcondra, Dublin has raised fears among some applicants and their parents about the dangers of identity theft.
President of the college, Dr Pauric Travers, however, gave an assurance that the theft was not aimed at the applicants. He said the documents were part of a "haul" stolen from the college.
A camera and two laptops were stolen from other rooms before the admissions office was broken into. Final applications from mature students for the BA and BEd arrived on April 9 and had not been fully processed by the admissions office. The break-in is thought to have occurred later that evening or early the next day.
Data
"It's very unfortunate but we have advised the data protection office about the theft and the gardai are investigating it," the college president said.
The admissions office contacted those who sent the application forms to advise them to write in again with their details. It has also put a notice on the college website asking recent applicants to contact the office immediately.
- John Walshe
Irish Independent
