Online bidding at Irish marts has meant those near and far can access marts up and down the country.

Logging in to night time sales has become a secret pastime for some city dwellers to distract them from the COVID-19 doom and gloom. The sultry tones of auctioneers, gates banging and cattle roaring take some back to their childhoods spent in marts.

But last week one Co Leitrim native went one step further.

Padraig Flanagan, a native of Dromahair but resident in Perth, Western Australia, made three purchases at Elphin Mart for his father on the MartBids platform from 15,000km away.

It was an early start for Padraig as Perth is eight hours ahead of Elphin. The heifers were sold around 9.30pm Irish time or 5.30am Australian time.

Padraig told The Dealer: “We needed a few replacement heifers at home and my father wouldn’t be that good on computers so I logged in and bid away until we got what we wanted.”

He rang the mart after the sale with his card details and paid for them so all his father had to do was come and collect them at the mart that evening.

“I’m not sure what the lady in the mart office thought and I was going to have a bit of fun with her and ask her were the heifers export tested and would there be a trailer going my way?”