Castlerea Co-Operative Livestock Mart is synonymous with high quality livestock and offering the highest standard of sales and after-sales is at the core of the business, according to General Manager Brendan Egan.
That goes a long way towards explaining how they have successfully managed to stand the test of time. One of the leading livestock sale centres in the west of Ireland, Castlerea Mart has a proven track record of providing a proficient service to sellers and buyers from their catchment area.
Castlerea Mart’s first sale was at the end of September 1976 and last year they reached the milestone of 40 years in business.
It is a Co-Operative Livestock Mart owned by local farmer shareholders. At the start it had 900 shareholders, with a share capital base of £55,000, at the time that was the cost to build the mart. It’s fair to say it has come a long way since its humble beginnings as they are handling some 36,000 cattle on an annual basis.
“We’re busy,” Brendan Egan – who took over the reins from the long-serving Noel Moran in 2012 – told Irish Tractor & Agri magazine. “We’re doing 36,000 cattle per year and had a turnover of €34m the year before last.”
That is why the mart’s 40th birthday was worth celebrating towards the end of last year.
“We celebrated last September with an anniversary sale and invited everyone from the catchment area.
“We treated everyone to a bit of food and also honoured four employees and an auctioneer who have 40 years service under their belt. It was a great occasion and we are very grateful to everyone for their support down through the years.”
Castlerea Mart has a catchment area of approximately 40 miles and is well known for its quality stock and good suckling area.
“We’d have buyers and sellers coming from east Mayo, south Sligo, east Galway as well as Roscommon. In fact, we’d have customers from all four provinces times and we also export to Northern Ireland.
“There’s a good reputation for Angus cattle in the catchment area and that’s a breed that’s making a comeback which is good to see.”
A continuous policy of investment in the improvement of their facilities has also helped to stand Castlerea Mart in goodstead. Over the years, two other sales rings have been built and all three rings are used every week all year round.
“We installed a new display board last year,” Brendan pointed out.
“We pride ourselves on providing a quality service for both buyers and sellers. There has been a big increase in the amount of paper work that has to be done behind the scenes over the years because of traceability etc but the mart continues to prosper and thrive.
“We have a solid base of both buyers and sellers who have been very loyal to us. It also helps when you have a loyal and dedicated staff . We employ 50 at peak times and a lot of them are vastly experience. As I said already, some of them have over 40 years experience with us.”
There are some clouds on the Castlerea Mart horizon but, all things considered, Brendan says the future looks bright.
The business is based upon solid foundations yet is innovative enough to be best placed to face future challenges which may lie ahead within the agricultural sector.
“Last year we saw depressed beef prices while there is a lot of uncertainty over Brexit and what knock-on effects it will have on the agricultural sector here. But, every year brings a different challenge and we’ll just concentrate on continuing to do what has served us so well in the past.”
As a customer focussed Co-Op for over 40 years and having embraced new technologies and catered for the needs of their customers, Brendan and the team at Castlerea are proud of their philosophy in providing excellent customer service at all times.
At Castlerea Co-Operative Livestock Mart they welcome all enquiries. You can email them directly at [email protected] or call them by phone (094) 962 0300. Visit www.castlerealivestockmart.com for more information.
Sale Days
Thursday weekly
Bullocks, heifers, cows, calves and weanlings.
All sales commence at 11am.
3 rings in operation.
All stock pre-booked.
Yard opens at 8am.
Scanning service available.
Committee of Management
Brendan Egan, Ballyglass, Williamstown,
Co. Galway. (Manager).
John Mcdermott, Cloonarrow, Castlerea,
Co. Roscommon. (Chairman).
Padraig O’Connor, Fairymount, Castlerea,
Co. Roscommon.
Committee Members
Michael O’Flanagan, Cloonfower, Castlerea,
Co. Roscommon.
J.P. O’Connor, Tarmon, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
Richard Thompson, Willsgrove, Ballintubber,
Co. Roscommon.
Richard Finan, Carrowkeel, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
Cathal O’Brien, Cleaboy, Ballintubber,
Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
Paddy Kelly, Rampark, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
Patsy Creighton, Aughaloor, Loughglynn,
Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
Padraig Conneely, Turla, Ballymoe, Co. Galway.
Castlerea Co-Operative Livestock Mart
Castlerea,
Co. Roscommon
Tel: 094-9620300
www.castlerealivestockmart.com
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 4, June 2017
Castlerea Co-Operative Livestock Mart
