This article is from page 15 of the 2011-01-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
SIXMILEBRIDGE Mart could reopen in as little as three months following the decision by a large local consortium to purchase the mart from Golden Vale Properties (GVP) at last Thursday’s public meeting in the town.
An estimated 400 people turned out for the meeting where the bid to purchase the mart was given the unanimous support by those in attendance.
This move comes following the surprise move by GVP to drop the asking price for the mart, which has been closed for more than a year, to € 300,000 last month.
The five-man purchasing committee, who were given the responsibility of negotiating with GVP on behalf of the local community, will now go “full steam ahead” to push through the paperwork in an effort to get the mart up and running again by March or April of this year.
“There was really only one thing up for debate and that was whether we wanted to go ahead with purchasing the mart or not. In this we got the unanimous backing of everyone who was there,” said local farmer Jim Enright.
“Everyone now wants to get this up and going as quickly as possible. It is full steam ahead from here on out and we are hoping to have the mart up and running by March or April. We have done what we needed to do and now it’s about getting the paper work sorted as quickly as possible and getting the mart ready to go.”
While hundred of farmers and local residents have already signed up to be shareholders in the new mart, it is hoped that more people will come on board in the coming weeks.
Mr Enright continued, “We are delighted with how this worked out. There was great support for the project, both from the local community and also from the wider farming community. This was a real community effort – we have people involved from across five or six local parishes.
“We had a sale of shares last year and a lot of people have already bought into the mart. What we need now is for anyone who is interested to come forward and become a shareholder.
“If people do become shareholders we feel that they will be more loyal to the mart and will be more likely to use it. A lot of people also promised that they would come on board if the deal went through and now is the time for that to happen.”