The White Diamonds Texel sale, held in Raphoe Livestock Mart by the Donegal Texel Breeders Club, has become a big night in Texel breeders' calendars over recent years and this year was no different, attracting a crowd of very active ringside and online bidders.

With just under 70 lots of high-quality in-lamb Texel shearling ewes and ewe lambs on offer, there was a strong selection for the eager buyers to choose from.

The strong ringside and online activity led to an overall sale clearance of 95% and an average price of €802 was also obtained.

The pre-sale show's judge was well-known Texel breeder Paul Mallon of the Tawney flock.

Mallon's pick of the yard was a standout ewe lamb from the Umricam flock of Micheal Grant. The double five-star ewe lamb was sired by Haddo Fabio.

She went on to top the sale, selling for €2,750 to Oliver Doherty after frantic ringside and online bidding.

The Buncrana man went on to sell three more ewe lambs on the night to give him a strong pen average of €1,275.

In-lamb shearling ewes

Topping the in-lamb shearling ewe section was the well-known Silverhill flock of Neville Myles. The strong Hexel Fan Club-sired shearling ewe was scanned carrying a single and sold for €2,050.

Taking the second-top price in the shearling ewe section was Letterkenny man Gerard Sheils, selling his Sportmans Deal Breaker-sired ewe for €1,640.

She was scanned carrying twins to €5,500 Connemara Hilltop and was picked up by breeders Daniel and Ciaran Heraghty.

Local Raphoe man John Parke also had a great day in the sales ring, selling his lead in-lamb shearling for €1,500. This shearling was sired by Greenstar Fast Track and was scanned carrying a single to Cheeryvale Highflyer.

Another local Raphoe man, Sam Wilson, was on the top prices list as well. He sold his Milnbank Firefly-sired shearling ewe for €1,340.

Long-standing Donegal Texel breeder William Doherty was also in the money on the night, selling his shearling ewe for €1,240. She was scanned in-lamb with twins to Silverhill Hiawatha, the overall champion at the Donegal Texel breeders’ premier sale held earlier in the year.