Cootehill mart fire: 'What made it stop, I will never know'
A fire that broke out at Cootehill Livestock Mart, Co. Cavan, caused the complete destruction of the auctioneer's box but within 36 hours and the help of locals, it was business as usual for the weekly weanling sale!
Ring two at Cootehill mart was impacted last week by fire damage with the entire rostrum (auctioneer's box) reduced to cinders, according to mart manager, Geoffrey Drury, who believes an electrical fault was the cause.
He told Agriland that when he arrived at the mart on the morning of the fire, he was met with a smell of smoke.
"I let off the load of cattle and I went in to set up the laptop.
He said the sight before him gave him "an awful fright" but he was glad that nobody was hurt.
Geoffrey said that the fire had started to burn a leg of the large seating area around the ring but, thankfully, it didn't take off.
Despite the fire damage, the mart proceeded as normal that day in ring one - both online and in-person.
And with many hands, ring two was back in action and the rostrum structure rebuilt, just two days later.
Both rings are now fully operational.
Geoffrey paid tribute to everyone who worked tirelessly to get the ring back in shape again: Samuel Thompson and the Mountview Engineering team; Padraig Brady Electrical; Hugh McNern in LSL Auctions; Thomas Farrell, Annaghlee; Carroll TV; Thomas Smith, tradesman; and all mart staff who helped clean and get everything ready in such a short timeframe.
Geoffrey and son Steven took over the lease of Cootehill mart in March 2021 following its closure in February 2020.
When the Brady family opened the mart initially back in the 1960s, Geoffrey's father, Archie, was the first farmer through the doors with his cattle.
And on two subsequent occasions when the mart reopened under new management, Geoffrey himself was the first farmer in. Having also worked there for several years, when the chance came to reopen the mart, he was delighted to go for it.
Things have been going very well so far with three sales (online and in person) running on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
