The reopening of Mountrath Mart in Co. Laois is being discussed as a public meeting was recently held surrounding the proposal.
Acting chair of Mountrath Mart co-op, Ken Holmes told Agriland the meeting held last night (Thursday, February 1) at Bloom HQ in Mountrath, was “very successful”.
Holmes acknowledged that the meeting was to “get the feel from the local community” about the prospect of reopening the mart.
The feedback gathered last night, according to Holmes, was that the reopening of the mart “is looking positive going forward”.
“With everyone rolling in behind one another, pulling together, this can be a successful outlook for Mountrath Mart reopening,” he said.
The meeting, which was open to the public, was attended by shareholders, farmers, local business owners, and members of the local community, and a range of public representatives.
These public representatives included Fine Gael TD, Charles Flanagan; Fianna Fáil TD, Sean Fleming; Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley and Senator Victor Boyhan.
Laois county councillors present at the meeting included James Kelly, Ollie Cloney, and Conor Bergin.
The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Livestock Committee chair Declan Hanrahan also attended the meeting, while IFA president Francie Gorman sent his apologies for not attending due to his participation in a national show of solidarity with European farmers last night.
The acting chair of Mountrath Mart co-op acknowledged there is “a lot of work to do” but added the next steps to be taken to reopen the mart is to hold a shareholders’ meeting “in the near future”.
“We have it left in the hands of the existing shareholders and the local community to rally behind us and help us get this going. We have broken the ice,” he said.
Mountrath Mart
Last month, Holmes told Agriland that the co-op’s ambition is to reintroduce a “full sales programme” on a planned basis starting with a calf general sale in early March followed potentially by sheep sales and general cattle sales.
Holmes said the co-op would then consider also introducing weanling sales later in the year.
He believes the opportunity to bring livestock sales to Mountrath again would not only provide a “vital service” for farmers in the area but also create an important “social outlet” for the local rural community.
The mart, which originally opened in 1967, ceased trading on January 9, 2019; it was understood that this was because of rising costs and insurance premiums.
At the time there were no debts attached to the mart and there was sufficient funding to keep going but a decision was taken that spiralling costs had made trading no longer viable.
The closure of the mart was seen as a major blow for farmers across Co. Laois five years ago.