By Mairead Wilmot
A FATE unknown in New Ross was simply too much for one bullock to bear. Obviously loath to leave the county of Carlow, he decided to flee from Tullow Livestock Mart last Friday.
The bullock, who was of a Continental breed, clearly decided the he fancied fairer climes than that of New Ross and took it upon himself to make a dash for freedom. Upon hearing he had been sold to a farmer in New Ross, the year-and-a-half-old beast decided enough was enough. As he was being loaded onto a truck to be taken to his new home, he opted to make a dramatic exit, racing out of the mart through the streets of Tullow town.
“He must have got a fright or something,” said manager of Tullow Livestock Mart, local cllr John Murphy. “Continentals would be a bit nervous anyway, so when he was being loaded onto the truck he took off and went straight through the centre of town. Three or four lads headed off to track him down, but he must have been gone for about half an hour.”
There were no reports as to whether he looked left and right before crossing traffic, or indeed whether he was headed towards a china shop, but despite his bid for freedom, the New Ross-bound bullock was eventually caught in a not-so continental local farm. “He was found alright in a farm belonging to a John O’Brien, so they were able to round him up and he was sent to New Ross,” said John Murphy. The story was confirmed by the O’Brien family, who were working in the yard when the stray bullock decided to pop in (presumably looking for directions to the nearest airport so he could board the next flight to the south of France). “It must have been a clever bullock because we are about a mile from the centre of town and he had to turn down a side road to get to us!” said a family member. “He just came into the yard, but he was lucky he turned off when he did because any further and he’d have been in Baltinglass.”