Ballybay Mart manager, Matthew (Mattie) Gilliland, has described the decision by the Property Services Regulatory Authority’s (PSRA) to temporarily suspended the mart’s licence as “absolute devastation”.
In an interview last night (Tuesday, November 16) with Agriland, Gilliland confirmed: “Our licence has been temporarily suspended until Tuesday, November 23.”
A reason for the suspension has not been confirmed.
Mattie Gilliland stepped into the role of Ballybay Mart manager in recent weeks following the sudden withdrawal of previous manager, Adrian Grimes.
Grimes had been in the role for approximately one year. When contacted by Agriland a number of weeks ago, a Ballybay Mart spokesperson said that Grimes was “currently on annual leave”.
Commenting on the impact of the PSRA’s decision, Gilliland said:
“The place was just rocking. It’s just devastation to go down and face farmers there [ahead of the cancelled sheep sale] and tell them to go home.”
The mart was due to host a sheep sale on Tuesday, November 17, and a sale of dairy cows was to take place today (Wednesday, November 18).
However, all sales are off following the PSRA’s decision to temporarily suspend the mart’s licence.
Ballybay – heart of the community
Ballybay Mart has created good employment in the region and provided a great service to farmers from surrounding areas selling livestock.
The livestock sales brought trade to shops and other businesses in the town and yesterday’s move will likely be felt sorely by all who benefited from a vibrant livestock sale in the town.