The celebrity auctioneer, who will kick off proceedings at MartAid 2020 tonight (Thursday, November 5), has been revealed…

Irish rugby legend Seán O’Brien will begin the event this evening, with the ‘Tullow Tank’ linking up with event organiser MartEye to wield the gavel and get the show on the road at approximately 5:50pm.

From a beef farm in Co. Carlow, O’Brien currently plays for English Premiership Rugby side London Irish and previously lined out for Ireland, the British and Irish Lions and Leinster Rugby, where he won numerous trophies and accolades.

Turning to the event itself, in order to purchase one of the impressive array of auction items, you have to have downloaded the MartEye app.

All funds raised on the night will go to Embrace FARM, the farm accident support network charity.

MartAid 2020 will be run in a relay-like schedule, with the action leaping from mart to mart across the island of Ireland, both north and south.

Some huge donations have been made by companies and marts to date including the following selection:
    1. A rugby jersey signed by Ireland and Lions rugby legend Sean O’Brien;
    2. A motivational team talk with the 18-time all Ireland winner and Cork Legend Rena Buckley – courtesy of Cork Marts;
    3. An Irish Rugby jersey, signed by Rory Best, from FloGas;
    4. Training session with All-Ireland winning Cork footballer Noel O’Leary – courtesy of Macroom Mart;
    5. A training session with all Ireland winning Galway hurling star Joe Canning – courtesy of Loughrea Mart;
    6. 1,000L of tractor diesel from Ross Oil – Farnanes;
    7. A €500 voucher for Agristock, from Pat Leahy of Agristock;
    8. Vink Calving Aid, courtesy of Agrihealth;
    9. 50 calf tags worth €150, from Cormac Tagging;
    10. Six MooCall sensors – courtesy of Enniscorthy Farm Systems;
    11. Five dash cam cameras from PC Pro;
    12. A Fendt jacket from Kehoe Brothers, Tullow;
    13. A €400 voucher from O’Donovan Engineering in Co. Cork;
    14. €200 worth of AI straws – courtesy of Bova AI;
    15. Two calving camera self install kits – courtesy of Agricams.ie;
    16. Two signed Liverpool jerseys signed by Jamie Carragher – courtesy of Enniskillen Mart;
    17. A Husqvarna K760 12in oilguard consaw, from Barry Engineering;
    18. A two-night break in Peacockes Hotel, Maam Cross, from Maam Cross Mart;
    19. £100 voucher for McCullagh Farm Machinery;
    20. €100 voucher for Tullow Mart;
    21. Two 20-bag lots of beef crunch from Tullow Mart;
    22. €50 voucher for Connemara Gift Shop, from Maam Cross Mart;
    23. Farm safety hamper and primary school webinar series, from AgriKids supported by FloGas;
    24. A Draper socket set, from Whelans Garage, Loughrea;
    25. An animal feed voucher worth €300 for Southern Milling; and
    26. 2.5L of Procide from APG Agri.

The mammoth mart marathon will involve the 25 marts which operate MartEye systems, each rapidly auctioning eye-catching offerings in a given slot in the event – which is expected to last well into the night.

Stay tuned to AgriLand to see how the night fares.

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