Cootehill Mart in Co. Cavan is set to reopen under new management in the coming weeks.

Although an official reopening date has not been confirmed, the new management are looking to reopen in March.

A newly-set up Facebook page – titled ‘Cootehill Livestock Mart’ – was created on Saturday just gone (February 13), on which a post said: “We are delighted to announce that Cootehill Livestock Mart, formerly Station Road Mart, is reopening during March 2021 under new management.

We cannot wait to welcome back all customers, farmers and friends from near and far in the very near future.

The previous mart in the town announced that it would be ceasing operations on January 18 last.

Steven Drury, the son of new mart manager Geoffrey Drury, told AgriLand that the mart premises is being leased on a 10-year basis.

He explained that the family has history with the mart, with Geoffrey being employed there for several years, and his father before him selling cattle there in the 1960s.

“It’s a big undertaking. It was a massive loss to Cootehill. We felt if we didn’t reopen it, it might never reopen, so we decided to take the bull by the horns,” Steven said.

Steven’s role in the mart will be ‘behind the scenes’, particularly working with computer systems, something he said is particularly important due to Covid-19.