MANOR MART GETS LICENCE - NOW COMPLIANT
Manorhamilton mart has satisfied the regulatroy authorities regarding its financial affairs and has received its licence.
The mart, the only one trading without a licence, was now fully compliant, Sligo District Court was told last Thursday.
It has spent a lot of money getting its affairs in order and financial experts hired to sort out its affairs were now engaged on a full time basis as part of the negotiations which had been ongoing with the Property Services Regulatory Authority.
Previous sittings of the court heard how Manorhamilton Livestock Sales Ltd at Station Road didn’t have a licence and the Property Services Regulatory Authority had concerns over tax compliance and a deficit in the client account.
It admitted to two counts of operating without a licence.
However, Judge Kevin Kilrane was told last Thursday by Mr Keith O’Graday BL with Mr Gerard McGovern, solicitor ( defending) that all matters had been regularised at significant cost to the mart.
Mark Dunne, an inspector with the authority, outlined how the mart had been turned down for a licence in 2013 and 2015 having originally applied in 2012.
Witness said the authority received five complaints regarding “bounced cheques” and this led to an investigation.
Witness first visited Manorhamilton on November 9th 2015 and saw a mart in progress. He also met with its director, Ivan Moffitt who gave his access to the client account bank statement.
Summonses were issued in December 2015 and pleas were entered on October 12th 2016 with the matters being adjourned on a number of occa- sions since to allow engagement take place.
On May 30th last there was a meeting between mart representatives at the authority’s offices in Navan and a licence was issue last week with conditions having been met.
Mr O’Grady said costs had been agreed with the authority.
“It wasn’t a cheap prosecution,” he said.
Mr O’Grady said it was interesting to note that the matters had arisen on foot of anonymous complaints being made from those being followed for bad debts.
There were some damaging articles in trade magazines as a result, he added.
Mr O’Grady said the time afford by the court through various adjournments had been put to good use.
“There’s been a total change now in the way my client conducts its business,” pleaded Mr O’Grady.
He said the mart would continue to retain the various experts brought in to assist it and this was part of the agreement with the authority.
Judge Kilrane said everyone was aware of how important marts were to communities in rural Ireland.
He said with animals feathing € 1,000 each and some 200 or 300 passing through a mart each day one could only imagine the kind of money at stake.
The Judge said the days of paying on credit were well and truly gone and animals must be paid for on the day they were bought.
In the past, he suggested, bigger buyers perhaps used their clout to get credit but he said marts now had to be run on a strict business model.
The prosecution, said the Judge, had done good in that it probably saved the mart and it was now in strict compliance.
“The mart is clearly now licensed and in compliance which cost of a lot of money,” said the Judge. He marked the facts proven and said he was making no further order.