Dedication pays off for organisers of National Livestock Show
Once again the event has lived up to its high reputation as the leading agricultural show in the country.
It has grown in scale and success, and is now second only to National Ploughing Championships.
The organisers of the National Livestock Show are very fortunate to have a well located, large site at Charleville Estate, but by far the most valuable ingredient in their success story has been the team of about 500 people who give of their time each year.
By any standard this show is now a major undertaking, physically and financially, although money worries are eased by the continued strong support of Powers Gold Label, a relationship which is unlikely to change, given the event's success.
It is a valuable shop window for the best Irish livestock, excellently presented, in a compact layout, ideal for the livestock fans who crowd around the show rings all day.
But the variety on offer is wide, from bonny babies to glamorous grannies, awards for farm equipment ideas and inventions to art, and sheep dog trials, home baking competitions to carriage driving.
The National Livestock Show is the ideal replacement for the RDS Spring Show, proving the greater attraction of an Irish farming heartland location, compared to Ballsbridge in Dublin 4.
The suggestion of spreading the Tullamore programme over two days has inevitably been raised because of the continued growth and attendance of more than 40,000.
The Committee have prudently resisted any such move.
Agricultural shows don't have a record of success on Saturdays, and Monday is out of the question.
One is hesitant to utter a single word against Tullamore because the people who run it show such dedication. But my constructive observation is that more attention must be given to traffic management.
Helicopter monitoring is excellent, and mainly intended, one presumes, for road traffic control, but there has been in the past, and still is, a major problem for many of the patrons getting out of the show grounds at Tullamore in the evening.
It is very hard to blame anyone who have been almost stationary in a line of traffic still inside the show grounds for up to one and a half hours for becoming angry.
There are very obvious minor changes in traffic management which could have a big benefit in easing the tensions and completing a perfect day out. The organisers have shown their ability to expertly handle much bigger issues and, with a bit more thought to traffic planning, they can master that challenge too.
