Credit crunch and time hits farmers keen to buy Cappoquin

FARMERS hoping to buy out the ailing Cappoquin Chickens plant in Co Waterford are being thwarted by the credit crunch and a lack of time in their efforts to save hundreds of jobs.

A co-operative of 21 chicken breeders, rearers and growers has expressed an interest in buying the processing plant as a going concern from the liquidator, appointed a week ago to administer the company.

The liquidator was given six weeks by the High Court on Tuesday to run the company — which employs about 250 full-time and part-time staff — and either find a buyer or wind down the business.