Fair to send goats to Africa
A male mountain goat is toasted and crowned King Puck, at Puck Fair, in Killorglin, every August, and then returned to its fastness on the Kerry hills, only to be forgotten about.
But now, the fair's organising committee is starting to work with Bothar the Limerick-based organisation that sends livestock to Third World countries as a development aid.
The committee's plan is to help send goats to Africa.
"We're keen to be involved in anything to do with goats and Bothar is engaged in very worthwhile projects. This will be a community project in Killorglin and we'll get kids in the schools involved,' explained Declan Falvey, of the fair committee.
Bothar general secretary Peter Ireton welcomed the initiative, stressing that the only sort of goats Bothar was interested in were dairy goats.
"Good Irish dairy goats are very useful as they can produce four, or five, litres of milk per day. We're interested in getting goats from established dairy herds," he said.
"The average cow in East Africa produces about a litre of milk per day, so it's obvious that dairy goats are extremely valuable.'
