Nearly five decades of service in livestock marts across Connacht was recently marked at Balla Mart for the retirement of one of their staff.
Tom Jordan celebrated his last working day at Balla Mart on Saturday, March 2 after 46 years of working across the North Connacht Farmers’ Co-operative Society (NCF), Connacht Gold, and Aurivo marts in the region.
He was the former mart manager at Ballymote Livestock Mart in Co. Sligo, but for the last number of years he could be found working at Balla Mart in Co. Mayo.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), foot and mouth, and the Covid-19 pandemic were among the major events that Jordan worked through that were acknowledged at on Saturday.
Jordan thanked all the customers, sellers, and buyers he encountered during his years of working in the marts.
“Without the sellers, there’d be no business, and equally without the buyers, there’d be no business,” he added.
He also thanked all the yard staff, the office staff, auctioneers, senior management that he worked alongside throughout his career.
The Ballyhaunis native also thanked his wife Josephine and his sons Thomas, David, and Keith upon his retirement.
Balla Mart
A minute’s silence was observed in memory of Michael John Walsh ahead of the weekly cattle sale in Balla Mart on Saturday, March 2.
The former manager of the mart from 1990 to 2007 passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, February 25, following a short illness.
Michael John, who is survived by his wife Kathleen and his five children, was laid to rest in Ballymote, Co. Sligo on Thursday.
Ahead of the minute’s silence, auctioneer Ray Clarke paid tribute to Michael John Walsh.
“He was a great mart manager, a great people manager. He was a really good cattle man and he was a gentleman and he’ll always be remembered here,” he said.
Clarke said that Michael John had worked to put Balla Mart “on the map” and “set the seeds for what it is today, one of the leading marts in the country”.