A large crowd gathered from across Ireland, the UK and Europe in Balmoral Park for the much-anticipated Big Bang Export Sale.

The line-up for the day included 116 Suffolk lots and 43 Dutch Spotted lots from a selection of the Islands top flocks. These flocks brought forward with them some of the leading and most sought-after genetics within these breeds.

Suffolks

Taking the top-priced spot for the second consecutive year was the Shannagh flock of the Raphoe brothers Andrew and Richard Wilson, selling their impressive shearling ewe for 10,000gns (€12,569).

This impressive ewe was sired by 9,000gns Limestone Another Level and her maternal sister sold to 6,500gns at the 2021 Big Bang Sale.

She was scanned in-lamb carrying a single to the 200,000gns breed record holder Salopian Solid Gold.

After a frenzy of online and ringside bids, she was eventually knocked down to Cliodhna McCafferty and Dominic Crystal.

The Wilson brothers sold their second in-lamb shearling ewe for 2,500gns (€3,142) to give them an impressive pen average of 6,250gns (€7,855).

The next top price of the day went to Antrim man Alastair Gault of the well-known Forkins flock.

Selling his leading in-lamb shearling for 8,000gns (€10,052) that was a daughter of the €44,000 Ballinatone Show Stopper. Gault went on to sell a total of 14 in-lamb shearling gimmer to give him a pen average of 2,625gns (€3,299).

The Ballnacannon flock of Denis Taylor sold his leading in-lamb shearling for 4,500gns (€5,654). In presale comments, Taylor described her as “an exceptional gimmer and a very exciting prospect”.

She sold to Andrew and Richard Wilson. Taylor sold a total of 17 shearling ewes to average a strong 1,700gns (€2,136).

Suffolk ewe lambs

The Suffolk ewe lamb trade was topped by Lesley Liggets Carony’s flock with the first ewe lamb in the ring.

This Birness Thunder sired ewe lamb sold for 5,500gns (€6,915) to the renowned UK-based Sportsmans and Mellor Vale pedigree flock. Ligget sold a total of 12 ewe lambs on the day to average 1,810gns (€2,275).

The next top price in the Suffolk ewe lamb section went to Alastair Gault selling his Forkins ewe lamb for 4,000gns to Mark McMenamin. Gaults pen of five ewe lambs averaged 2,060 (€2,590).

Dutch Spotted

The first breed into the ring was the Dutch Spotted, that topped at 5,000gns (€6,280). This section topping ewe came from the Derg flock of Allen Shortt and Samantha Allen. The Diamond Felix sired ewe was scanned carrying twins to Diamond GotTheMoves. She was snapped up in a flurry of ringside bids by Antrim breeder Liam Lynn of the Doonans flock.

It was the Derg flock that also secured the next top price of the Dutch Spotted section at 2,500gns (€3,142), with another in-lamb shearling ewe. She was again scanned in-lamb with a single to Diamond GotTheMoves. She was purchased by leading UK Dutch Spotted breeder Ali Dodd of the Hazelberry flock.

The top-priced Dutch Spotted embryo pregnancy also came from the Derg flock. This single embryo pregnancy was much sought after being out of the much-admired 2024 Balmoral Champion Craigdoo Firefly and upcoming stock ram Knockmult Hector.

She was purchased by Natasha Doherty and Mark Priestly of the Limestone flock for 2,200gns (€2,765).

The Derg flock achieved an impressive pen average of just under 2,200gns (€2,765) for their pen of six.