Farmers captivated by new style of Fischler cap
Farmers wanted to know how it would fit; was it like what their fathers wore and would it protect them in the difficult climate ahead. Crowds flocked to the Department of Agriculture and Food and other stands to learn more about its style and shape and what it will look like.
All were assured it was designed with great care by Fischler and Co in Brussels and was in keeping with modern trends.
Some were not exactly captivated by what they heard, but their interest peaked at department information meetings and most indicated they were willing to wear it with some adjustments. Those who were not as well informed were advised that this particular CAP is not, of course, a form of fashionable head garb but the Common Agricultural Policy as reformed by the European Union.
And it is about to be put in place to change the way that farming will look in the decades ahead. One man who knows a thing or two about the matter, Moss Keane, who was capped 51 times for Ireland at rugby was on duty in the Department of Agriculture and Food stand. But he left his sporting caps at home.
Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh, Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams were also capless as they mingled with the good-humoured crowds. Politicians were all over the place as they tried to woo voters in what one wit described as the start to The Year of the Hiker local and European elections are to be held next summer.
Capping the day, however, was President Mary McAleese, who officially opened the championships, after a rousing performance by the Irish Air Corps Pipe Band.
She said it was where the traditional Irish fair day the Aonach meets the most sophisticated modern business fair. But, she said, the art and science of ploughing is the heart of the championships, an activity that has been going on in Ireland for 5,000 years as the excavation of the Céide fields in Mayo has shown.
And that, as everybody knows, was long before there were any caps around in the guise of policy documents or even the cloth variety.
