Tullamore Mart was "hopping" last night (Monday, March 2), with a charity calf sale that raised €19,000 for Offaly School of Special Education.
Dairy farmer Nicholas Kearney and his wife, who works in the school, Katie Kearney came up with the idea for the charity auction which saw "huge generosity" from farmers in the locality.
In the midst of calving season, many farmers were unable to make the event, but still showed support despite a very busy time of the year, by donating through the i-donate link, bringing the total amount raised to around €25,000.
Around nine or ten farmers also hit the road from 11:00a.m to collect calves from farms "covering huge ground", according to Nicholas, from areas such as Moneygall and the banks of the Shannon.
A total of 43 calves were donated for the night, and auctioneer Gordon Cobb said the mart was "packed" with "just standing room left".
The proceeds will all go to the Co. Offaly school, which caters for 42 children across the county and its borders with a diagnosis of severe or profound intellectual disability or autism, combined with an intellectual disability.
At present the school is in a temporary building which lacks many of the basic resources and facilities that purpose-built special schools have. The only current option to provide the pupils with much-needed recreational activities is to travel outside of the school grounds.
Cobb said that there was an initial target set at around €4,000 or €5,000 when the plans first developed, with it being what he described as a "particularly good time to sell calves".
While weights were not taken on the night, Cobb said the calves were all "reasonable" and "strong".
The top sale on the night was a Belgian Blue heifer calf sold by Sam Brennan to John Brady for €1,040 (pictured below).
Another Belgian Blue made €600, a Charolais heifer went for €710 and another for €520, and an Angus heifer sold for €360.
Nicholas said that the school staff, who were also present yesterday at the sale, "are just blown out of the water", with much appreciation given to the farming community.
He said the appreciation was shown by "the best comment of the night" when one member even said that they will never give out about a silage trailer on the road "ever again".
"You'd see lads trying to sell calves, fighting over a fiver for an hour, yet you ring them the next day and they'll donate a calf no problem.
"If you even look back at the storm. Farmers are great at helping each other and the community," Nicholas said.
Nicholas thanked all of the farmers that donated, bought calves and advertised the event. He thanked the agricultural businesses and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA).
Representatives of Offaly ICMSA, chair Pat O’Brien, of Corndarragh, and Ronan Feighery of Shannon Bridge praised all the organisers.
They said that the night "showed the support that local charities could always rely on receiving from the county’s great and vibrant farming community".
Donations are still being accepted through the Offaly School of Special Education i-donate website. The funding will also be used for services such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology.