More than 100 farmers have now lodged claims for unpaid livestock from the liquidator of Edward and Paul Nugent Ltd, the company that ran sales at Castleblayney Livestock Mart in Co Monaghan until its closure one month ago. Others are owed for deposits made to the company’s property auctioneering business.

Liquidator Cormac Mohan told the Irish Farmers Journal that he is legally obliged to seek payment for all debts owed to the mart, including from buyers who had not yet paid for livestock.

However, “there is no guarantee that this money will go to farmers owed money,” he said, because legislation gives higher preference to employees’ wages and rates due to the county council.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that preferential creditors will absorb virtually all the cash available.

A meeting of around 100 farmer creditors organised by the IFA in Castleblayney heard that the company in liquidation does not own the mart’s premises, reducing the prospect of raising funds from selling its assets. They elected a committee of seven farmers to seek legal advice on the cancellation of sales for which no money had yet transited through the mart, or direct payments from buyer to seller. The liquidator said he expected “a discussion” on which sales had effectively been concluded, but advised against direct payments. “It adds greater complexity to the case,” Mohan said.

Longer-term challenge

The longer term challenge will be to reopen the mart. Edward and Paul Nugent Ltd is insolvent to the tune of €1.2m, of which nearly half is owed to its director Connell Nugent for money he spent on upgrading the mart.

Through a spokesperson, Nugent told the IFA meeting that “his ambition is that farmers get paid”. He also pledged to work with the liquidator and a potential buyer or partner to re-establish the mart. While the existing company will have to be wound up, Mohan said that “the goodwill in the company and in the mart could be sold”.

“We’re going to make sure this mart is not sold as a going concern unless farmers get paid,” said Monaghan IFA chair Frank Brady.

Listen to Brady in our podcast below:

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