mountrath mart closing

fergus1001

Just heard today that the mart has closed staff have been notified

sad day

Muckit

I think it will be one of many. Insurance costs have gone through the roof. Commissions will be going one way too... up.

fergus1001

Muckit wrote:

Commissions will be going one way too... up.

that's unsustainable though you increase commissions and you will have less people going to the marts which leaves them in the same position

Joe Daly

The beginning of the end of another part of rural life.

simx

Would of thought balinakill would be shut before Mountrath

Hershall

Strange seeing as they had advertised a number of special sales coming up.
Marts not getting big numbers beginning to feel the pinch now i presume.

Never wrestle with pigs

simx wrote: »

Would of thought balinakill would be shut before Mountrath

So would I. The cattle quality gone to pure dirt in mountrath though. Feck all good export weanlings like a few years ago where you would wait until one in the morning to see what a really good pen would make. Full of dealers dirt being unloaded a few minutes before they are sold and gob****e (me) has his there since dinner time. Dealers waving their hands and laughing at how low they could open an animal. Allot of money to be spent on it to get it up to scratch too. No farmers really buying in it anymore. Roscrea is a better place for quality and prices now. Kilkennys big flash mart starting to get taken over by the dealers too. It's like a poison that slowly killes a place.

Albert Johnson

I would agree that it may be one of more to come, the mart business is coming under increased pressure all the time.

The latest debacle of rising insurance costs coupled with increased safety measures requiring sometimes substantial investment could well be the final nail in the coffin for many. Some older marts may not have a layout that would easily facilitate overhead walkways and safe areas. Even in newer or better designed premises the increase in insurance premiums especially after a claim may be prohibitive to continuing trading.

In area's such as the Connaught there is an abundance of marts in a relatively small area. For example county Leitrim has 4 marts and I can think of 6 within about 40 minutes of a drive from here. It's hard to see a future for all of the marts locally with an ever decreasing number of stock in many areas.
Perhaps as you go further south and marts become less abundant it may prove somewhat of an aid in retaining the few that are still trading. Although I would believe that in more dairy orientated regions that more cattle are traded farm to farm and therefore there's less of a throughput via the live ring. The opposite would be seen in the beef heartlands with the mart still being the main trading hub.

Mart's are traditionally a high turnover but low margin business, with everything that is conspiring against them it is hard to see much of a change in circumstances. Accidents and the resulting insurance claims will occur as will non payers and other losses. These factors can take there toll on an already meagre profit margin. Increasing commission is not a guaranteed solution as many may take there business elsewhere.

I'd have a reasonable understanding of the industy and am involved in one of our local marts. I enjoy the business and see the benefits a thriving mart brings both directly and indirectly to the local economy. However I am well aware of the trials and tribulations facing many marts in the coming years and it's hard not to see the many pitfalls that lie ahead.

J DEERE

A real pity. They had a great night mart on a Thursday there. Used to be super quality weanlings and cattle up there. We often used to go up to put in the night and get the supper up there.

blue5000

I wonder are they owed much money?

kk.man

blue5000 wrote: »

I wonder are they owed much money?

Especially if those dealers are around the place.

fergus1001

blue5000 wrote:

I wonder are they owed much money?

no money owed by anyone and no money owed out to anyone either and that's from the horses mouth

the issue was insurance 4 years ago the insurance was 12k and this year the insurance was 85k on top of this the county council rates were somewhere around 15k that's before anyone was paid or a cow went through a ring

fergus1001

RTE were down outside the mart today so expect a spot on the news at 9 I'd say

biggest controversy here is that shareholders were not consulted or asked about closing the mart

Hurling Hereford

fergus1001 wrote: »

RTE were down outside the mart today so expect a spot on the news at 9 I'd say

biggest controversy here is that shareholders were not consulted or asked about closing the mart

Are you 100% sure about that?

fergus1001

Hurling Hereford wrote:

Are you 100% sure about that?

that's what was said by shareholders no AGM was held

Hurling Hereford

Muckit wrote: »

I think it will be one of many. Insurance costs have gone through the roof. Commissions will be going one way too... up.

A broken leg in England will yield probably about £6,000 to someone who’s had that accident. In Ireland here it’s indefinite; that same injury could cost four or five times that.

Hurling Hereford

Hurling Hereford wrote: »

A broken leg in England will yield probably about £6,000 to someone who’s had that accident. In Ireland here it’s indefinite; that same injury could cost four or five times that.

“Other marts have moved from €7,000 – everybody would have been at that range. We all would have been around that – and some have gone up to €22,000. Another mart [manager] was telling me he was at €14,000; now he’s asked for €28,000 – he has no claims history. It’s just marts can’t afford it.

“The insurance companies have a tendency to settle claims because it’s more cost-effective and, while we understand that, at the end of the day the marts are going to pay for that.” Eimear McGuinness Donegal Co-Op

Hurling Hereford

Hurling Hereford wrote: »

“Other marts have moved from €7,000 – everybody would have been at that range. We all would have been around that – and some have gone up to €22,000. Another mart [manager] was telling me he was at €14,000; now he’s asked for €28,000 – he has no claims history. It’s just marts can’t afford it.

“The insurance companies have a tendency to settle claims because it’s more cost-effective and, while we understand that, at the end of the day the marts are going to pay for that.” Eimear McGuinness Donegal Co-Op

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/were-losing-money-in-marts-fbd-insurance/

Never wrestle with pigs

Surely they can come up with a solution that if you are in the danger zone it's on you?

fergus1001

Never wrestle with pigs wrote:

Surely they can come up with a solution that if you are in the danger zone it's on you?

the mart here do not have the walkways over the pens installed and that's why the insurance is so high for them

Pidae.m

Fella in skibb mart go 30k a few years back when he had his hand in the ring, gate swung back and hit his wrist.

orm0nd

Hurling Hereford wrote: »

A broken leg in England will yield probably about £6,000 to someone who’s had that accident. In Ireland here it’s indefinite; that same injury could cost four or five times that.

a fairly local mart here had a claim for 150k for a fellow getting a kick on the tibia,



forget the outcome but I think eventually about 40, same individual had no business whatso ever in the passage ways

kk.man

Pidae.m wrote: »

Fella in skibb mart go 30k a few years back when he had his hand in the ring, gate swung back and hit his wrist.

I know of a couple of dodggy claims at marts around here. The same claimants I wouldn't trust to cross the road.

Pidae.m

kk.man wrote: »

I know of a couple of dodggy claims at marts around here. The same claimants I wouldn't trust to cross the road.

Ya yer man is a right wanker

Hurling Hereford

Never wrestle with pigs wrote: »

Surely they can come up with a solution that if you are in the danger zone it's on you?

Please explain and thanks in advance

wrangler

kk.man wrote: »

I know of a couple of dodggy claims at marts around here. The same claimants I wouldn't trust to cross the road.

I saw farmers at one mart defying the workers to put them out of the alleys,
Sure farmers have always walked the alleys but they haven't copped on yet that the cattle are a lot wilder and they're so old and bollicske that they can't get outa the way.
Authors of their own misfortune I'd say

memorystick

A lad near me gave false evidence in an insurance case in a horse mart. He said he saw a guy getting a kick and your man sued. The lad who gave the false evidence was good for nothing and had an awful death afterwards. Not saying he deserved it but he wasn't a lot of a yolk.

Never wrestle with pigs

Hurling Hereford wrote: »

Please explain and thanks in advance

I mean, if you put yourself at risk, in the alleyways in a mart, or in the pens etc. Even if you step foot in the general penning and crush area, it's at your own risk.

We've all done it. I'm not a fan of not being able to see cattle in pens either, but if I do go to a pen to have a look and get a kick it's my fault. CCTV in all the areas.

Plenty of signage that you are entering certain areas at your own risk etc. I'm sure that they can come up with something like that and hopefully lower the insurance in the marts and let them stay open?

Mooooo

Never wrestle with pigs wrote: »

I mean, if you put yourself at risk, in the alleyways in a mart, or in the pens etc. Even if you step foot in the general penning and crush area, it's at your own risk.

We've all done it. I'm not a fan of not being able to see cattle in pens either, but if I do go to a pen to have a look and get a kick it's my fault. CCTV in all the areas.

Plenty of signage that you are entering certain areas at your own risk etc. I'm sure that they can come up with something like that and hopefully lower the insurance in the marts and let them stay open?

Plenty of those signs mean nothing. A sign won't absolve anything in the eyes of the law. The only way would be to have anyone in the mart to sign a disclaimer or whatever it would be called and even then I don't know if that would hold legally

Grueller

Mooooo wrote: »

Plenty of those signs mean nothing. A sign won't absolve anything in the eyes of the law. The only way would be to have anyone in the mart to sign a disclaimer or whatever it would be called and even then I don't know if that would hold legally

Even the disclaimers don't hold according to a mate who is a solicitor. He says the precedent has been set that if an occupier shows even the slightest negligence the disclaimer is null and void. Negligence could be as simple as cowsh1t making the floor slippy, not enough drovers, the gate to the penning area left unlocked.

anthony500_1

Society as a hole has become very much a happy to sue culture, like America, personally I don't agree with scammers making a living from mine and yours insurance policy, if someone is genuine then a fair amount for let's say loss of earnings if out of work, and then a set fee like England has, broken leg 5k broken finger 1k etc it would cut a lot of court case out completely. I think in the marts it's a ridiculous idea to think I can walk down the chutes with cattle coming again me, get a kick or get trampled on, all from my own stupidity, and then turn around and say well I didn't know I was not supposed to be there and take the Mart to court for neglect of a duty of care. And take a large sum of money off there insurance. It really does annoy me.