This article is from page 4 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE DEAL to save the Sixmilebridge Mart has not yet been completed, despite media reports to the contrary.
A shareholders meeting to decide whether the local consortium will purchase the mart from Golden Vale Properties (GVP) will take place this Thursday, and if an agreement is reached the local group will formally bid € 300,000 for the property.
Support for the project is said to remain high among the shareholders but there is a small number who believe that the time taken to complete the deal will hamper the mart’s pros- pects for success in the future.
The mart has been closed for more then 12 months with a group of more then 500 local farmers and Sixmilebridge residents in negotiations since early 2010. The group withdrew their final bid of € 350,000 for the premises in November when Golden Vale Properties were unwilling to match their valuation.
GVP contacted the group in late December with a revised price of just € 300,000 for the property. The mart had been placed on the market with a guide price of € 600,000 in early 2010 with GVP reportedly keen to sell the property for industry or housing, rather than for a mart.
Should the bid for the mart go ahead it is likely that it will be midMarch or April before the mart is up and going again.
“The negotiations were going on for a long time and we were getting frustrated so we withdrew the offer in November and told them they could do what they like with the mart. It was then that they got interested about selling it,” said local farmer Jim Enright.
“They looked for a meeting with the negotiation committee before Christmas and they made the offer of € 300,000 just a day or two before Christmas. Now our group had offered them € 350,000 for it earlier in the year and I guess they thought that we would keep coming – but we didn’t.
“It is great news and I would have no doubt that the group will sanction the sale. There is a small doubt though. Whether it’s a pub or a shop or a mart, and it’s been closed for more then 12 months, there can be doubt because people have gotten used to doing their business elsewhere, but I am confident that it will be passed.”
A meeting for all shareholders and prospective shareholders will take place in the Sixmilebridge GAA Hall at 9pm this Thursday evening, January 6.