Co. Roscommon-based cattle exporting business Maxwell Livestock has confirmed to Agriland that it has successfully delivered its first-ever full shipment of Irish cattle for export.

Agriland caught up with the owner and founder of Maxwell Livestock, Hubert Maxwell, to hear more about the milestone shipment for the family-owned business.

Hubert said that this shipment consisted of just under 1,700 continental bulls. "They were strong types [of cattle]", he explained.

A well-known face at cattle marts across the west of Ireland, Hubert has been a major player in the weanling trade in particular for several decades now.

"I've been buying and selling cattle all my lifetime," he said.

"This is the first time we had [chartered] a boat of our own," he said.

"I supplied Purcells, Horgans, Dillons and anyone that was ever shipping cattle I supplied them [over the years] but this is the first time we had a boat of our own," Hubert added.

The boat departed from Foynes Port last Wednesday (April 1) and arrived safely at its destination in Algeria.

The vessel tasked with transporting the cattle from Foynes to Algeria was the purpose-designed Alondra livestock carrier vessel 'Alondra' which has sailed out of Irish ports with cattle before.

When Agriland asked him if he is confident of further shipments of this sort to destination markets, Maxwell said: "You'd never be confident but we're hopeful."

He said that the customers who received the cattle in the African country were happy with them on arrival.

"The cattle have arrived in great health and they're [the customers] very, very happy with them," he explained.

2026 Irish calf exports

Separately, the overall Irish calf export numbers to date this year are running 20% or 17,000 head below last year, according to the latest figures from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

Just under 66,800 head of calves have been exported from Ireland as of Sunday, March 29, a decline of 17,090 on the near 83,900 calves exported in the same 13-week period last year.

Total Irish cattle exports for 2026 are down 26% or nearly 33,000 head, with just over 91,300 cattle (including calves exported from Ireland as of Sunday, March 29, versus the 124,000 exported in the same time of last year.