€18m mart development opens

AN €18 MILLION landmark development which showcases progressive agri-related activity in a modern setting will be officially opened in Kilkenny today by Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Mary Coughlan.

Located on a 28-acre site at Cillin Hill at the gateway to the city, it is owned and developed by Kilkenny Co-op Mart, and features a multi-purpose venue and conference centre alongside state-of-the-art facilities for the society’s core business of livestock sales.

The co-op’s decision to diversify its activities with a flagship project is being hailed as a model for the country’s livestock marts.

Cillin Hill also features The Hub, a 17,000 sq ft multi-purpose venue with wireless broadband, sales rings, office and retail units, a bar, restaurant and car parking facilities.

Kilkenny Mart chief executive Michael Lynch said the Society recognised the challenges presented by the decline in farming in Ireland and sought to develop alternative income streams to make the organisation viable in the long-term.

“By developing new markets in events and conferencing, we can complement our core business of livestock sales, enabling us to continue to be the leading providers of a fair system of trading to farmers in the southeast,” he said.

Kilkenny Mart chairman Michael Parsons said farmers are the core customers and the facilities at Cillin Hill provides a one-stop-shop, tailored to meet their needs.

“It is essential, however, that we also reach out to the non-farming community. Through The Hub we are becoming a thriving resource for Kilkenny and the southeast.

“It has already hosted a number of successful non-farming events, such as Kilkenny Arts Festival, the Modern Homes and Building Show and the South-East Car Auction.

“The audiences and markets for these events are often not even aware they are in a mart building, as everything ... is located away from the mart offices and sales rings,” he said.

Cillin Hill management is headed by Michael Lynch, chief executive, Michael Parson, chairman and Larry Cantwell, secretary. The development was designed by leading Kilkenny architects Dalton and O’Donnell, with Nolan Ryan as project manager.