Meeting to rubber-stamp ’Bridge mart deal

A farmer-led consortium is expected to rubber-stamp the purchase of Golden Vale livestock mart, which closed over a year ago, at a public meeting in Sixmilebridge this Thursday.
Agreement has already been reached with GVM to acquire the mart premises at Ballysheen for €300,000 and the meeting will endorse the purchase of the property, which sits on a 4.5-acre site. 
When the mart first opened in 1973 it was founded by a group of local businessmen and traded as Bunratty Farmers’ Export Mart. The mart, which held weekly Saturday sales, changed hands in 1986 when purchased by the Golden Vale Co-operative group.
Now, through a share initiative scheme where shares were sold at €500 each, the group has the finance to do business and see the property revert back into the ownership of the farming community.
Leading sociologist and Sixmilebridge parish priest Fr Harry Bohan, who helped broker the deal, emphasised that communities must fight to retain their local services.
“The future lies in people taking control of their own destiny by rebuilding their local economies through local ownership. The reopening of the mart is vital for the continued sustainability of the local economy,” Fr Bohan said.
The meeting, which will be held in the GAA hall at 9pm, is expected to address decisions as regards business structures for its operation and whether to run the mart through a company or a co-operative structure.