Goldcrop at the heart of the community
December 30, 2010Every man, woman, child along with their cats and dogs in the county rowed in behind the county footballers this year in their quest to lift the provincial title.
Their appetite for success was whetted as early as the first round when an outstanding display saw the Wee County eliminate one of the favourites for the title, Kildare. This was one of the performances of the year and the national media began to sit up and take notice of what Peter Fitzpatrick's charges were all about.
A trip to Croke Park and a meeting with 2004 Leinster champions Westmeath in the semi final gave Louth a great chance of reaching the provincial final. Once again, they dug deep and a workmanlike performance saw them go through to the decider where old rivals and neighbours Meath awaited.
Louth went into the match as huge underdogs, but there was a belief within the county that they could turn over the 'auld enemy'. The game itself was a close affair throughout, but when it mattered most Louth held a narrow two-point lead as the game entered the last minute. What happened next will go down in the history books and will forever be referred to as the greatest injustice in Gaelic football.
Meath's Joe Sheridan was undoubtedly in the square when he gathered the ball and then blatantly threw it over the line. The large attendance present knew it was a free out and so did both sets of players, but to the astonishment of all, referee Martin Sludden awarded the goal and Meath were 2010 Leinster champions.
Ultimately frustrated and shocked, Louth supporters did not know how to react and they were left stunned by what had just occurred. One such supporter Dermot Barry has been following the GAA all his life and the Goldcrop manager admitted to the Wee County that he had never seen an incident like it before.
"I was shocked to say the least, everyone was. I couldn't condone what happened on the field afterwards, but I understood the frustration of all the supporters," said Dermot.
"I was sitting in the stand when my phone started hopping with texts coming through from lads I know all over the country, never mind in Louth. Everyone was astonished by what happened. It's not easy being a referee and it was a massive error to make, but I do think that Croke Park should have taken greater responsibility and decided to offer a replay. It wasn't fair on Meath having to make the decision and hopefully there can be a lesson learned from the incident."
Dermot is confident that Louth can bounce back from the defeat and come back stronger in next year's championship where he feels that they can go all the way this time.
"Louth will be there or thereabouts next year, I firmly believe that. A few of the players have gone travelling, but hopefully they will be back to play some part in the campaign."
The year was not without its ups and it finished on a high as Louth midfielder Paddy Keenan became the first player from the county to receive an All-Star and Dermot admitted that his fellow St Patrick's clubman deserved the accolade.
"Paddy had an outstanding year, but he has been playing to that level for a few years now. He is a brilliant footballer and one of the most genuine lads that you could meet. It's great for the club and the county that he was recognised for his performances."
Based in Dunleer since 1992, Goldcrop has been under the guidance of Dermot for the past five years, having taken over from former Armagh footballer and All-Star Tom McCreesh, although the Louth native has been with the company for the past 26 years in total.
Goldcrop was formed in 1984 by Michael Murphy following a management buy-out of the old Suttons Seeds and David Bell seed businesses. A native of Ballydesmond, Co. Cork Michael began his career in Agriculture as a Department of Agriculture inspector based in Termonfeckin and indeed played club football with Dunleer back in the 1950's. He subsequently returned to Cork where he became Agriculture Director for Suttons and has overseen the development of the business with Goldcrop today being a well recognised and respected name in the agricultural market. His son John is the current Managing Director of Goldcrop and he has also excelled in GAA having won All-Ireland Minor and U21's Medals with Cork.
Goldcrop is active in the agriculture, horticulture and amenity markets carrying a wide range of products including seeds, chemicals, fertilizer, animal feed, pet food, crop packaging and general farm hardware. The company employs 70 full time staff at three locations - Carrigtwohill and Killavullen (co. Cork) and Dunleer. Goldcrop has very strong links to the tillage farming communities through the production of certified seed under contract with specialist tillage growers and is also an important local buyer of grain. They also have an office in Rush North Dublin, which supplies bulk vegetable seed to farmers. This is run by Chris Bollard (Dublin's No.1 supporter).
Goldcrop operates primarily as a wholesale company in the Agricultural market with sales to a large number of merchants and co-operative groups throughout the country. Sales of horticultural and amenity seeds are sold direct to the end-users given the specialised nature of the customers. Goldcrop's amenity seeds have been used at many of the main sporting stadiums in Ireland (including Croke Park, Semple Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Thomond Park, etc) and most of the country's leading Golf Courses.
The current recession has placed all business in difficult and, in many cases, uncharted territory. In particular access to credit, cash flow and costs are the 3 main areas of concern. Daily management of these is a must and likely to remain so for at least the next few years. Celtic tiger profits and hence government revenue have in many cases collapsed or even disappeared and the country needs to find new sources.
"This however represents a good opportunity for food / agriculture if we can achieve 'joined up thinking' across all the parties involved. In the absence of any significant natural resources, Agriculture/Food must rank as one of the best potential assets this country possesses and we should be looking to invest to develop a stable earnings flow for the future."
"I would work closely with a number of farmers in the Louth region and we would deal with them on a daily basis as we have a retail business here as well. The GAA and farming go hand in hand, so there is plenty of banter here, not only with the customers, but with the staff too as there are 20 people employed here in Dunleer." Tweet
