From top: Shot heifer at John Hoey’s fam in Co Monaghan Chris Lehane, a court-appointed trustee who takes control of the assets of bankrupts; interview with Mr Hoey on Cork’s 96fm Opinion Line
Further to revelations yesterday that five heifers were shot by members of the armed forces on Tuesday as part of a debt recovery exercise.
The owner of the stock – farmer John Hoey from south Monaghan – told the Irish Farmers Journal that the army was called to shoot the animals after the debt collection service had struggled to load the five animals on to a truck.
The owners also allege that all other machinery from the farm had been removed. It is understood that the local Department of Agriculture vet had been made aware of the military exercise.
The Irish Farmers Journal understands that a long-standing protocol between the Department, An Garda Síochána and the army allows for intervention when there is a threat to public safety.
A fallen animal service was called to collect the dead animals but subsequently got stuck in the field they were in.
The Official Assignee in Bankruptcy, Chris Lehane, said in a statement that he had made the decision to have the cattle killed after failing to remove all the “wild and dangerous” animals from the farm with “experienced cattle assistants”.
“As Official Assignee I have a duty to recover value from assets of bankruptcy estates and it is clearly not in my interests to kill cattle, nor would I do it, without firstly having exhausted every other possible avenue open to me to resolve the problem.”
The Official Assignee in Bankruptcy is part of the Insolvency Service of Ireland, the independent statutory body tasked with monitoring situations in which people are unable to pay their debts.
Yesterday: Animals
Meanwhile, Seaán O’Rourke spoke to both John Hoey and his partner Aisling McCardle this morning.
From the discussion with Aisling…
Seán O’Rourke: “What would you say to the point made by Chris Lehane, the Official Assignee, that he has a duty to recover the value of assets in bankruptcy estates and it’s clearly not in his interest to kill the cattle, nor would he do it without firstly exhausted every possible other avenue open to him to resolve the problem?”
Aisling McCardle: “He is very incorrect in what he’s saying because he didn’t exhaust every avenue. He never, in all his time, that we spoke to the Official Assignee he never said, ‘we’re coming to shoot the cattle because we can’t capture them, will you go out and take the cattle in’. Like, as Johnny has explained, if he goes out with a bucket of meal, he’d have those animals in, in ten minutes. So he didn’t exhaust every avenue, he wasn’t taking health and safety affairs into consideration for us because we were out in the middle of this the other morning. I mean, some of us could have got shot very easily and where would the health and safety have been then? He did not exhaust every avenue.”
O’Rourke: “Well I suppose they would have been very careful about it, you’re talking about professional marksmen here now. Professional markspeople. They’re very careful where they shoot now, wouldn’t they?”
McCardle: “Yeah, but they still didn’t shoot the animals appropriately. Like some, as I was walking back up the road after that animal had been shot down there, there was the three animals that had shot up there in the corner, they were heading back… The armed men was coming back over, through the meadow, to get into a van, to be taken away. They actually stood over the three animals that were on the ground, lying there ready and shot them two or three times more.”
Listen back here
What a rotten little country we live in.
Why?
The farmer had declared himself bankrupt. Incidentally, according to Times he is being investigated by CAB, so no surprise that his assets and livestock are being removed. He’s admitted there’s TB in his herd and the animals were dangerous (probably also in danger of breaking out and infecting other herds). Not sure if you’ve ever been around agitated cattle?
This is a slow news season story. Move on.
+1
Yeah the last few weeks have really been characterized for being dry on the news front…
blushirt response to people in debt
Don’t ever change, dav.
Is there not a greater risk of transmitting tb if theres infected blood everywhere? Why couldnt the cattle be tranquilised?
You mean by some kind of vet / specialist in the area?
Nah – that’d be mad.
Bring in the army.
Obvious choice
Unfortunately, the costs are prohibitive seeing as they were to be culled anyway; it would cost hundreds of Euros per animal due to the amount of tranquiliser needed per kilo of weight to knock them out. Whether they actually had TB or not is questionable according to Mr Hoey, as their last annual test results were clear and this business of them n̲o̲w̲ having TB hasn’t been proven to him, as he hasn’t seen any paperwork to attest to this.
https://youtu.be/9LBRr2bGGUE
Short documentary from the director of the classic film Eyes Without a Face.
I’m really not comfortable with how this has been handled. Ever heard of a lasso? Couldn’t manage to get a rope on a cow? No? That’s pure bull! (sorry) But seriously. I’m particularly not comfortable with the army discharging firearms outside of the shooting range. This sounds like it was an opportunity for bored army cadets to go out and kill something. Not good.
The army did this quite a lot during the foot and mouth crises. it is part of their job if required to stop the spread of disease.
Or the absolute horror of a debtor not being left completely empty handed and destitute.
Tuberculosis.
He had diseased animals. Thankfully in Ireland we are pretty good at dealing with animal disease and preventing it spreading.
Actually we are, which is why this clusterfupp is so puzzling.
He was declared bankrupt. It means his debts are wiped out. but it also means handling his assets as well. In this case, diseased animals.
We don’t know the full picture from the details provided of his circumstances.
But his bankruptcy will be discharged in a year, allowing him to start over.
Going banktupt is a big step, but it frees him from debt.
Why couldn’t they make a second trip with the truck if they couldn’t fit all of them in?
They’d have to pay for the second run and the bank probably have these thugs on a set fee,
We have a very professional and well trained armed forces and you are a self-hating culture cringer.
Army have been used historically for situations like this so nothing new, other than the Bankruptcy issue attached to the situation. As I said yesterday my father inlaw is an old school farmer, and his family have been tending the same land for hundreds of years. His response when I showed him this story yesterday. Sure the Army have been doing that as long as I can remember!
Happy to admit when I am wrong I was as surprised as anyone that the Army were called in to do it but, obviously there are circumstances where that is required still.
It had been established that the cattle had TB so they could not be let escape onto other farms. That is the reason given for them escaping. Modern cattle are extremely dangerous as they are not used to humans the same way cattle 20 years ago were. They would not have been shot if it was not necessary as even if they did not have TB they could not be sold into the food chain after being shot like this.
why does the report not mention this important fact?
It was suggested that they may have had TB.
To add to what Medium said above. The animals had not been tested in 12 months and so were deemed suspect
That means they are dealt with as infected. But are not established to be TB positive.
lo and behold, it was actually the army all along.
Well, I can admit when I was wrong. Time to get all my news from the hub. christ.
Did you actually say “it wasn’t the Army” or were you just really sceptical about it?
I’m surprised.
But like it was hardly reported well initially.
I’m less uncomfortable with the idea of members of the army being asked to perform a role in destroying some cattle at the behest of the gardaí and the DOA than I am of a bailiff calling them to surround a farm and shoot cattle past the farmer who was trying to rescue them.
I’m surprised at the story, not at you or what you said.
I was very skeptical to the point of assuming it was BS.
I’m still not sure I take everything from the farmer as the absolute definitive version of events but i guess we’ll find out in due course.
Get over yourself Rotide
Bleedin egomaniac.
Likewise. I said with some confidence yesterday that the story was a total fabrication. One lives and learns.
+1
Way to get hyserical and not report all the facts of the story. I guess hystercial raving gets more clicks.
Haven’t been hysterical raving since the late 90’s.
Good times!
To me it’s clear – this was punitive and designed as the final assault by this “Official Assignee” to demonstrate his power and control over John Hoey…. To put him back in his place…. “Nobody… NOBODY messes with the “Official Assignee”, I can hear him say….
That seems to be the gist of it, assignee acting like some gangland enforcer to make others tow the line, these guys brought guns with the intent to use them whether the cows ran or not, Minister of defence (Enda Kenny!) needs to make a statement quickly to explain why the army is doing the banks dirty work and who signed off on the operation.
If you bother to read the article in the Times, the shooting of the 4 or 5 cattle was sanctioned by the Dept of Agriculture after assignees staff couldn’t round them up. This really isn’t a story.
Big gang of men couldn’t catch a few cows, do you actually believe that?
Should have called Charley and his Cattle Boyz
Ever seen “ one man and his dog`”? Cattle dogs are used too herd cattle, this was just a petty little man in a job that no honourable person would take, acting the gangland enforcer, probably has a fascination with Guy Ritchie movies,
You’re right, I’m sure the Assignee also infected himself with TB and then french-kissed the cows in advance for the craic.
In another shocking revelation, cattle actually get killed prior to being turned into burgers and steaks
These will be incinerated
I assumed they all died peacefully of old age surrounded by the loved ones?
Not like this, they have to be bled immediately ,this is more like punishment shooting
Could the army have just tranquillised the animal and then a vet could have administered a lethal injection? Win win, target practice for cadets and the animal doesn’t suffer lead poisoning.
With their size and the adrenaline pumping no probably wouldn’t have been safe to use tranquillisers as the dose would be so high it might kill them anyway
Of course I could be wrong, better check with all those tranquilliser experts we had a few weeks ago with that gorilla shooting
I’ll also admit when I’m wrong, but a key piece of info being TB being positively identified within the heard was omitted.
I still find it hard to believe that they couldn’t round up the animals, such an extreme solution!
Another key piece of info, alleged by the assignee ,was the repeated frustration of the seizure. Gates were opened and chains cut allowing animals to roam which was a considerable threat given the potential to spread TB.
The farmer has dirty hands here and the assignee should have called myself and a few of the lads, we’d have caught them.
Oh, you and the lads must be great bants.
oh yeah, when we stay out late we get up to all sorts. Last year we swapped Mrs Keaveny’s gates around, she had no idea what was going on!
Classic Harry
I would not have guessed that that you came from an agricultural background, Harry; interesting…
now for ya
Not defending the farmer but strictly speaking they haven’t positively identified as having TB. The herd hadn’t been tested in 12 months meaning their TB suspect.
With that status they’re treated as likely positives but they could be completely fine
Gowayanshite
Anyone else getting Bank Of Ireland Expanding Farm ad in the right hand side of this story?
Good Morning. If you have five minutes, this is something that may upset you. Sorry.
https://youtu.be/x2y3vLwrF6s
Tasty chicken
Why not fence the animals in properly and treat them for TB?
They get TB they are destroyed, happens all over.
I see, listening to the radio at the moment and the TB is being disputed.
The bullet is mightier than the cattle pen, apparently.
Some shocking stuff being claimed in Sean O’Rourke at the moment.
Prior to this a load of cows and calves were taken and allegedly the calves were shot and thrown in a skip because the person seizing the animals didn’t bother to get the proper documentation.
This seems to have been a balls-up of an operation from start to finish and this assignee should probably at minimum be arrested for animal cruelty and possibly more serious offences, his employers should be similarly charged and the army CO should be considering his position. This is hillbilly stuff that has no place in modern society, X owes Y money so Y shoots his cows in spite, this needs to be nipped in the bud.
TB is curable in cattle. It takes a few weeks. So they might be thinking that u cant use their milk for that amount of time, so fupp it just shoot them. heavy handed response.
TB reactors are taken away to be put down,
http://agriculture.gov.ie/animalhealthwelfare/diseasecontrol/bovinetberadicationandbrucellosismonitoringscheme/diseaseeradicationtb/dafmtberadicationschemes/
Since these meek little army men can’t shoot out of their own equipment, & have been sleeping with their rifles with out release the last few years, sure wern’t they only to happy to riddle the cows with bullets till they staggered, collapsed & bled out.
Well done kids, now why don’t you don your UN regalia & f’off to a pointless deployment at some heat stifling checkpoint in the middle east, where you can fondle your equipment until the next life or death situation manifests itself under Lehane.
Well done – wtf have you ever achieved in your life?
Have never succumbed to a smart phone.
Have never watched any Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Game of Thrones.
Have respectfully ignored your fathers advances.
You are not fit to lick the boots of the men and women who serve in our defence forces.
“your father’s” – dumbsh*t
You know what happened to the last person who was told to ‘get your fuppin’ shinebox’.
Are you threatening to stab me to death in the boot of your car?
You are even more infantile than I thought, so…
* picks up baby pacifier, puts back in Jimmy’s mouth *
Standing up for the army boys with obvious ‘issues’, will not result in a successful tackle of your own issues.
Why not join a group for those in a similar circumstance to your own, that way you can surround yerself & fill your brain during every waking hour with your first world angst.
Or you could just get the f-overyerself.
If I poke you again, with a bigger shtick… will it get the same reaction? :)
anything to stop me from doing any real work is welcome
:0)
Reactor cattle get culled. Not the whole herd.
These animals were not tested. If they were they would be in a pen. That they had TB was only a guess. TB rates in Ireland are very low.
He was being investigated by the CAB. That does not mean the army come and shoot your animals.
There is no way you can’t get animals in. If they are wild, which his breed were know for in fairness, you take your time, let quiet cattle out with them. Quieten them with feeding etc. Limosins are the second most popular breed in Ireland.
The Dept of Ag have been shown recently to not be a great department. Lost two big cases this year for general idiocy and targeting farmers that stand up to them.
I am sceptical of the story, but sceptical of the department, the army and the assignee.
Those damned reactor cattle and their nuclear powered ways, I tell ya! wha!
CAB will be a distraction, give an appearance of illegality, just be Revenue with their CAB hats on looking for red diesel, They’ve used that trick up here when they’ve being raiding petrol stations whose oil licences have lapsed
why not shoot the disease ridden bankers and politicians ……..or better still why not shoot the people who have lost their homes and are in bankrupcy…
the irish army are a constant source of embarrassment ,,,such a gang of gun happy idiots,,,,
they should crawl back under the stones .they have come from…..
they have no rights ,i hope ireland never goes to war,,,,it will be like hiroshima all over again….
but i believe what goes around comes around ,,,,,hope some one does the same thing to ye some day,,,,,
Next on the list of people to shoot: people who use irregular punctuation.
This type of action is something like a bannana republic, that the army had to
got out to shoot a few cattle, that are alleged to be wild and might have TB,
this is spin, well lets advance the army involement, get them to round up all the
badgers and wild deer that spread TB all over farmers land and livestock
The Dept of Agriculture in this little Republic is out of control and is only an extension of the Directorates in Brussells that the British gave the boot to a week
ago
Does anyone remember when one of Denny’s cattle got TB in Glenroe and he lost the plot with Mylie cos he was after opening the Open Farm and took in some Deer which Denny was blaming for spreading the TB?
Think it may have had something to do with Blackie Connors and badgers in the end but they kept that from Denny.
I miss those lads.
You would
Why weren’t these heavy handed methods used on the big developers , flood a hospital and walk away untouched, owe a few hundred thou and they shoot your livestock in front of you!
They didn’t have TB
Common sense will tell you that those cattle panicked once the first shot was fired. This was as far from a humane killing as it is possible to get and the excuse given is not only not credible, it displays a complete ignorance of how to handle cattle.
From start to finish this thuggery was unacceptable and nothing the owner did or did not do excuses the army using frightened cows as target practice. Absolutely shameful.
Listen, should have, sent an urgent SOS to british ministry of defence to request, them to send, some of their migs.
Call in an air strike.
I mean if ye are going to make a fool of yerself, shrr why not go the full 12 yards.
What gets me is the amount of people justifying this behaviour who have never stood on a farm in their lives. I was reared on one so I know how cattle are reared and what they reared for. But, when an animal comes to the end of its life there is a code of ethics as to how it is dispatched. It certainly isn’t being pepper sprayed with bullets while the poor thing is running away trying to save its own life.
These cows were not “wild and dangerous”, they had to have been farm yard animals who were bucket fed from caves. This was not a foot and mouth cull either and it makes absolutely no difference what they done back in the 60’s. It was an incredibly lazy and ignorant decision which has angered a lot of farmers.
*Calves
The whole thing is desperate and I have no sympathy for the farmer here either as a lot of people can see the animals welfare was far from the minds of any of the people involved.