Ploughing teams ready to take on world’s best

THE Irish team for the World Ploughing Championships will leave Dublin Airport today for Belchasse in Switzerland where they will compete against the best ploughmen of 28 participating countries.

John Treacy, of Carlow, and Sean Keating, of Wexford, will spend a week practising and preparing in Switzerland for the event, which will be held on September 8 and 9.

It will be the veteran John Treacy’s sixth attempt at the world title. He was runner-up on three occasions, 1973, 1974 and 1980, and is hoping to go one better this year. He was once beaten into second place by the absolute minimum of a quarter of a point.