Rocha cow nets €125,000 for charity

Undoubtedly the most exotic cattle mart ever held in the State last night netted more than half a million euro for Irish charities the Simon Community and the Jack and Jill Foundation.

The auction of the 69-strong herd of CowParade beasts, designed by Irish artists and public figures, went under the hammer at a star-studded event in the Four Seasons Hotel, Ballsbridge, last night.

Celebrity bidders vying for their favourite beasts included Ali Hewson and Gerry Ryan. Rumoured phone-bidders were Oprah Winfrey and Elton John.

The pick of the herd were John Rocha's Wagamoomoo, encrusted with 15,000 pieces of Waterford crystal, Kevin Sharkey's Moo-lah, covered with 20,000 euro of real notes, and Paul Ratigan's tribute to the Riverdance star, My Cow Patley.

The CowParade exhibits hit Dublin's streets in July but were hastily corralled into various indoor sites after receiving unfavourable reviews from the city's more demonstrative art critics: vandals destroyed several of the first 10 cows which had been placed overnight in outdoor city centre locations such as College Street, Temple Bar, Dame Street, the Point, Smithfield and Christ Church.

The sculptures were part of an international cultural art exhibition, CowParade 2003, which had visited cities all over the world, including New York, Auckland, Sydney and London, before coming to Dublin.

The idea was that the cows, placed overnight, would be a colourful surprise for pedestrians across the city the following morning.

Organisers said the vandalism was "depressing but not surprising".

Dublin was the only city where the exhibits had to be removed from the streets.