NCF DEAL SAVES SWINFORD MART
2 October 1996
A DEAL HAS been hammered out to save Swinford Mart.
Agreement was reached by the Banks and the new owners NCF whereby creditor farmers will receive 72.5p in the £, similar to those in the Balla mart collapse six years ago.
Mayo IFA chairman Brendan O'Mahoney has welcomed the announcement. He said at a public meeting of the farmers involved at the weekend an agreement was reached with NCF for the payment of 72.5 in the £.
He said: "Hopefully everything will fall in place from here on in. Farmers are still shortchanged to the tune of 27.5p but we achieved what was achieved in Balla in 1990.
"At the end of the day this was the best deal available and farmers will be satisfied with what they have got at this stage."
The farmer creditors had been waiting a long time for this money to come through. There was a lot of negotiations with various interested parties in the Mart in which NCF came out on top in the bidding race.
Some 296 farmers are owed £376,000 and they should received their cheques later this month. Once a licence is obtained from the Department of Agriculture the Mart should be up and running again.
Mr. O'Mahoney said the closure of the Mart had come as a great blow to the business people in Swinford and they would all be delighted to see it opened up again as soon as possible.
Connaught Telegraph - News - October 1996
Connaught Telegraph - Sport - October 1996
