Henry Burns, Joe Healy and Flor McCarthy had contrasting views on the number of marts in Ireland. The question arose during a special edition of “Around the Editor’s Table”.

For Healy and McCarthy, the country has too many marts. Healy, a former manager of Athenry mart, said: “I think we have too many marts. What buyers want when they come to mart is a large selection and I think the smaller marts are losing out at times.

McCarthy also believes there are too many marts. “They are providing a service but having seven in Kerry is pretty crazy” he said. “They’re all performing strongly which is a positive from a farmer’s point of view,”.

Henry Burns disagreed with the other two candidates. “I don’t think we have (too many marts) because they’re providing a valuable service in a local area. They’re a small margin business often owned by farmers,” Burns said.