A small ice-cream parlour in Dublin was destroyed by vandals over the weekend, the second time the shop has been targeted this year.
Storm in a Teacup, a popular Skerries cafe, was broken into during the early hours of Sunday morning. Photos of the business show Halloween decorations, melted ice cream and glass littering the floor of the tiny, seaside cafe.
The owner of the store, Tina McCormack, said it wasn’t the first time her business had been burgled, but it has never been vandalised to this extent before. When Ms McCormack’s husband came in on Sunday to get the machines up and running, he discovered the destruction. Vandals had smashed a number of ice-cream machines, completely destroyed a glass display unit and taken the store’s small float, Ms McMormack said Monday.
“They ransacked the whole premises really,” said a Garda spokesperson. “We were called in the early hours of yesterday morning. We’ve examined the premises for fingerprints, so we are investigating and appealing for anybody with information to come forward.”
Ms McCormack was forced to close the store Sunday due to the damage, operating instead out of a vintage caravan converted into a makeshift food truck.
“Very sorry everyone but unfortunately we won’t be open today. Broken into AGAIN!!” the owners wrote on social media. “Absolutely everything destroyed. What has the world come to when you can’t even leave a little ice cream shop alone. Sickening.”
Reopened
Working to clean the parlour up through Sunday night and Monday morning, Storm in a Teacup reopened with limited working ice-cream machines at 2pm on Monday afternoon. Ms McCormack is currently making a list of all the damage and bits and pieces missing from the store, as well as sourcing new glass for the display unit before the parlour will be up and running at full capacity.
“It’s gonna take a few days, probably a few weeks,” she said. “But we can carry on regardless.”
Ms McCormack added that the support from the Skerries community had been “just unbelievable”, as neighbours and residents flocked to the store Monday afternoon to buy a coffee or ice cream to show support.
“Just wanted to say a big huge thank you to absolutely everyone who messaged us or came to see us and offered us help!” McCormack wrote Monday.