Tubridy beefs up the pot at charity auction

Tubridy the calf was the star of a livestock auction that raised over €40,000 for a cancer charity yesterday.

The black and white Hereford fetched €5,500 when sold at Dungarvan mart, Co Waterford, by his RTÉ namesake.

The long-faced, large-eared creature was one of several celebrated participants at the gala event.

Others included his broadcasting and entertainment colleagues Brenda O’Donoghue and Maura Derrane, along with comedians Jon Kenny and Tony Coffey.

They each took their turns at auctioneering as more than 140 calves, donated by the region’s farmers, were sold in aid of Youghal Cancer Support Groups’ efforts to establish a cancer support and drop-in centre some 30km away.

Seldom has the earthy setting of a mart arena been peopled by so much pink, perfume, and perms as more than 600 well-wishers and buyers crammed tight around the auction ring.

Jon Kenny began proceedings by bring down the hammer at €100, having first established the bidder was “bidding and not wiping your nose”.

Maura Derrane soft-voiced €500 out of a farmyard wallet before €300 saw Brenda the calf sent to Kilcullen by her namesake, who once trod the same grass as a celebrity bainisteoir.

The stakes were raised when Bachelor in Trouble Tony Coffey engineered €1,100 for a pedigree Friesian heifer.

Hoping to raise “€800 with access rights”, Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy took the bull heifer by the horns and led with €500, incessantly upping the demand by €200 and slipping in “two tickets to the Late Late Show” for a heady €5,000.

At €5,500, young Tubs was appropriately carried across the line by Irish rugby hero John “The Bull” Hayes.