“It’s like a blood sport,” said auctioneer Robert Craigie of Ganly Craigie.
The ballroom at Tougher’s Red House in the town of Newhall was packed with bidders from Africa, Cuba, and Iraq as well as Belgium, Holland and Poland.
Today’s issue of Ireland’s Independent said: “There was traffic congestion as potential buyers viewed machinery before it went under the hammer.”
Craigie said that the event had "worldwide appeal" because of Ireland’s flagging economic image abroad. The main proportion of the sales made yesterday were for export abroad.
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However, Irish contractors were also out to pick up bargains. "There's a lot of people who are coming in and buying tipper trucks at half the price they were a year ago. Labour's got cheaper, trucks are cheaper, and they can put in competitive tenders,” said Craigie.
“Talking to some of the foreign guys...they said they heard Ireland had gone broke so they're here to capitalise on the situation.”
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