Loughrea Mart has taken the decision to postpone tomorrow’s first sheep sale of the new year in light of the expected dangerous travel conditions expected over the coming 24 hours.

Two Status Yellow warnings have been issued by Met Éireann for the full country – one for snow/ice and the other for low temperatures – with both alerts coming into effect tonight (Wednesday, January 6).

Also Read: Headford and Castlerea Marts the latest to postpone sales

Speaking to AgriLand, today, Wednesday, January 6, Loughrea Mart’s manager Jimmy Cooney said that it was best to postpone tomorrow’s sale in light of the expected poor weather conditions – which could lead to difficult travel conditions.

He said: “I have been speaking to a few of our customers and with the news that travel conditions could be dangerous due to snow and ice, we have decided it was best to defer our first sheep sale of the year for one week.

Some of our customers weren’t prepared to drive down and that is totally understandable as the weather has taken a turn and road conditions over the last few days have been dodgy enough at times.

“As well as that, the rising Covid-19 cases are also a concern and were also at hand when making our decision regarding postponing tomorrow’s sale.

“At the end of the day, the safety of the mart’s staff and customers is the main priority and that is why we felt it was best to not go ahead with tomorrow’s sheep sale.

“We plan to be back again next Thursday as usual and our first cattle sale is scheduled for Saturday week, January 16,” Jimmy concluded.