04/08/2003
IRELAND'S oldest festival, the Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co Kerry, is set to exploit its legendary wild goat 'King' so his four-legged cousins can do a little good for an African agri-charity.
Puck Fair organisers have teamed up with Irish agri-charity, Bothar, to ensure the 2003 festival next weekend not only proves a €3m crowd-puller - but manages to raise enough cash to send some desperately needed dairy goats to poverty-hit African farmers.
The idea was borne after the 2001 Foot and Mouth (FMD) scare when festival organisers had to keep their King Goat away from his subjects because of FMD controls.
The impact of the FMD scare impressed on Puck Fair officials the importance of agriculture - and the daily plight facing many Africans farmers.
Bothar, founded in 1991 by the late Munster MEP TJ Maher, has expanded under the stewardship of Peter Ireton to include animal projects in Tanzania, Poland, Cameroon, Uganda, China and Tibet.
Despite setbacks including the BSE scare in the mid 1990s and FMD, Bothar has expanded to become one of Ireland's most successful charities.
