Work under way on Athy site for European Ploughing Championships

IT may still be less than six weeks away, but work on the Athy, Co Kildare, site works for this year’s national and European Ploughing Championships are already under way.

Steel roadways are being laid this week by the National Ploughing Association exhibition team, a fortnight ahead of schedule for the September 21-23 rural showpiece.

The event will have more than 900 trade stands and is expected to attract up to 180,000 visitors over the three days.

Special attractions this year will include the European Reversible Ploughing Contest being hosted for the first time in Ireland with 14 participating countries.

The NPA, headed by managing director Anna May McHugh, said it is delighted to be returning for the second successive year to the Fennin Farm at Cardenton, Athy, which is in the heart of one of the country’s best tillage belts.

Last year’s event was a huge success from a traffic management point of view, and also because of the quality of the land for ploughing and the accessibility to the site for exhibitors and visitors.

Ms McHugh said everything about the Athy venue works. The site access is excellent, the trade arena is ideal and the land is among the best in the country for ploughing.

Athy was the place where the first national ploughing championships were staged in 1931. It also hosted the silver jubilee event in 1955, and was the venue in 1985 and 2009.

Machinery and livestock will be the core elements of the exhibition, with tractors, trailers, combines, feeders and every type of implement needed for today’s modern farm on display. The livestock section will feature pedigree breeds of cattle and sheep as well as Alpacas and pigs.

A considerable area is being designated for cars, jeeps and 4x4s in this year’s exhibition. Other developing sectors are renewable energy, forestry and agritechnology exhibits.

The event also attracts thousands of people from a non-farming background with the result that the NPA has developed a comprehensive Lifestyle Arena, which is an exhibition in its own right.

Fashion shows, celebrity cookery demonstrations, ICA seminars, etc, will be featured in this arena.