The logistics involved in creating a fully serviced pop-up town on a greenfield site that can attract nearly 300,000 people over three days is a daunting challenge.
But that’s what the organisers of the National Ploughing Championships accomplish every year with the help of volunteers, public services and the country’s business, community, heritage, and agricultural communities.
It is an inspiring undertaking with detailed planning, site mapping and an infrastructure layout that would impress any army in the world.
“Operation Furrow” would be a worthy codeword for what is now Europe’s largest outdoor agricultural event.
It will be held on a sprawling site of over 800 acres at Ratheniska, Co Laois, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, September 19, 20 and 21.
President Michael D Higgins is due to perform the tape-cutting opening ceremony on Tuesday. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, political and farm leaders, church dignitaries and members of the diplomatic corps are expected to attend.
Speaking at last year’s event, the President said its central purpose from its inception is a contest pitting the skills of ploughmen and women against each other.
However, it has evolved to being a large and diverse event that represents the diversity of modern rural Ireland.
President Higgins said farming, and the family farm in particular, is at the very core of rural life. Staying with good, sustainable farming, drawing on both old wisdom and new methods, is how it has survived.
“It is how it will continue to survive. It is a way of life which has often been passed from generation to generation, one that must be understood and protected from unfair practices in terms of price or inputs,” he said.
The Government of Ireland and the European Commission will again have pavilions at this year’s gathering and 120 international buyers from around the world will be present.
Costing in the region of €6 million to stage, the event will be worth over €50 million to the national and regional economy.
Some 320 ploughing competitors from all over the country will vie for national titles and other honours on a 200-acre site which hosted the World Contest last year.
Reigning world champions Eamonn Tracey, Carlow (conventional) and John Whelan, Wexford (reversible), will defend their national titles at Ratheniska before heading next month to the World Contest in Latvia.
But the reality is that the national pageant has expanded to such an extent beyond competitive ploughing that it is now a huge trade and cultural showcase with some 1,700 exhibitors in outdoor and indoor stands.
There will be displays of high-tech farm machinery, advice on how to deal with climate change, three fashion shows a day will be compered by Celia Holman Lee, and there will be musical entertainment and competitions for the most appropriately dressed lady and gent.
Politicians, celebrities, and farm leaders will mingle with the crowds and this year there will be the added interest of the Irish Farmers Association presidential elections.
Nominees for president, deputy president and three of the four regional chair positions are expected to begin their canvassing campaigns in earnest at the event.
Some 2,400 volunteers will be required to stage the ploughing championships, with up to 350 gardaí expected to be deployed across several counties to police a detailed traffic management plan.
An internal road network at the site will be serviced by 37km of metal trackway. And an intricate cable network with 10 generators will produce enough electricity to power a small town with a population of about 8,000 people.
Some 14km kilometres of fencing in 7,000 panes will secure the venue. Over 800 staff will service about 80 catering stands. And around 600 picnic benches will be located on site.
On average, 85,000 cups of tea and coffee are consumed on each of the three days, while 16 tonnes of prime Irish beef and three tonnes of locally sourced pork are consumed.
About 14 acres of Irish potatoes are grown each year to supply the event where up to 40,000 breakfasts and rolls will be sold daily, 24,000 litres of milk consumed, and 19,000 eggs eaten.
A display of quality livestock which will require 300 round bales of straw, 100 bales of hay and seven tonnes of meal. Visitors can learn about herd management, genetics, nutrition, and healthcare.
All sectors of the food chain from producers to retailers will be represented with exhibits of artisan produce, craft beers, cookery competitions and sessions with celebrity chefs.
National Ploughing Association managing director Anna May McHugh said it is delighted to be staging the event in Ratheniska again this year.
She said the feedback from landowners, the local community and the wider public last year had been very positive, and all were very enthusiastic to see a return.
“The event not only provides a national stage to showcase all things that are great about Ireland but also brings together people from all sectors of Irish society both rural and urban, to enjoy three days immersed in country living,” she said.
Mrs McHugh said exhibitors and visitors were also very vocal about their wishes to have it staged again in Ratheniska, given how well it worked as a location last year.
The site has proved popular for several reasons including its central location and surrounding road and rail network. By and large most people travelled to the site with ease, she said.
Mrs McHugh said the NPA and FBD are again partnering to provide a ‘Keeping Your Child Safe’ wristband project at the event.
Over 40,000 wristbands, which will be handed out at the event entrances, allowing for a contact phone number to be written on the band in case the wearer wanders off in the large gathering.
FBD chief executive Tomás O’Midheach said this important initiative has proved incredibly useful over the years in protecting children should they become separated from their parents or loved ones.
Sustainability is a key theme again this year with numerous green initiatives. The NPA will be promoting the use of recyclable products.
Food waste will be converted into energy through an anaerobic digester and there will also be solar panelled lighting towers, cardboard compactors, litter fines and waste separation operations on-site.”
Certa formally known as EMO Oil are providing the electricity for the event using HVO Hydrated Vegetable Oil (recycled cooking oil).
Gardaí, headed by Chief Supt. Tony Lonergan, Laois Offaly, who will have a major traffic and parking plan in place, have appealed to the public to consult the route maps, plan their journeys in advance and adhere to road signage and site directions.
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