One of the largest private cattle marts in the midlands is to close after nearly 40 years, partly due to the effects of foot-and-mouth regulations on business.
Maynooth Mart, owned by the Doyle family, has been sold although the proprietors have not yet closed the gates on their Dublin road site.
Although the Doyles still run a mart in Blessington, they will not be happy to see the end of business in Maynooth. "It is very sad," said Mr Ned Doyle.
The firm will try to keep all the permanent staff employed at Maynooth, but there will be some job losses among part-timers, he said.
The decision to close the mart was based partly on the effects of the regulations preventing those buying cattle from disposing of them within 30 days.
"It's what you would call a disaster. And one of the other disasters they [the Government\] have introduced is that people who occasionally buy cattle in the mart now have to get a registered number." For this reason, it is now difficult for a farmer to send a neighbour or family member to buy on his or her behalf.
Representatives of the private marts met with the Department of Agriculture last week to discuss the issue. "They are adamant this is the way they want to go and that it will take the rogue element out of the business, which is a very small element," Mr Doyle said.
A spokesman for the Department said the 30-day retention period would be in place until the end of this month and would be reviewed then.
A review of other restrictions imposed during the foot-and-mouth crisis is also being carried out and the Department hopes to be in a position to make a statement at the end of the month on which ones may be lifted.
Cavan/Monaghan TD and Fine Gael junior spokesman on agriculture Mr Seymour Crawford called on the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Joe Walsh, to change the 30-day rule as a matter of extreme urgency. "If there is any live trade to operate, the marts must be central to that."
Mr Crawford said the fact that Maynooth Mart was closing suggested the regulations were posing a huge threat to the whole agricultural industry. "If traders are in a position to export cattle, they want to be able to do it exactly when they come across them," he said.
"The closure of Maynooth mart is another incidence of how the whole agricultural system is being damaged by Irish-imposed rules and not by EU-imposed rules.
"Many of the regulations introduced last year during the foot-and-mouth emergency were supposed to be on a temporary basis and for particular types of dealers, but Minister Walsh has so far failed to review these regulations or have them discussed in the Dáil chamber."
Mr Derek Deane, chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association's national livestock committee, said the 30-day rule had been introduced during the foot-and-mouth crisis but the crisis had abated.
The Minister had said that once this occurred he would lift the 30-day rule and the IFA expected that to happen soon.
The IFA, however, is more concerned with the overall impact of the new dealer legislation, which the Government insists is designed to tackle illegal operations. Its view is that the "catch all" approach of the legislation hits both farmers and dealers without making a distinction.
"There are a number of serious issues that impact negatively on farmers out of this particular legislation, in ways that were never intended. That's what we hope to address with the Department," Mr Deane said.
Additional reporting by
Patsy McArdle