The four female ministers are the most anonymous members of the Cabinet among rural voters, an Irish Examiner poll has revealed.

He may never have enlisted, but Taoiseach Leo Varadkar made his way through the ploughing with military precision.

61,700 people attended the final day of the National Ploughing Championships today in Screggan, Co Offaly.

Micheál Martin has slammed the British Government for "playing hard and loose with food safety" after they suggested a lowering of standards after Brexit.

The National Ploughing Championships will re-open this morning after it was called off yesterday.

Latest: A woman who died after her caravan was swept off a cliff in Galway today has been named.

Latest: The National Ploughing Championships will now go ahead on Friday to make up for today’s cancellation.

A Status Orange Wind warning has come into effect for most of the country, as Storm Ali passes over Ireland.

Fianna Fáil has been damaged by entering and sticking with the confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael, a majority of farming voters believe.

Presidential pretenders, people power, and praying prelates permeated the ploughing pageantry in Screggan yesterday.

President Michael D Higgins has “never run away from a campaign” in his life and is looking forward to running for a second term in Áras an Uachtarain.

Doing the right thing can sometimes be a thankless task. Fianna Fáil’s decision to prop up Fine Gael from opposition in 2016 is looking increasingly unpopular.

All of us are, at most, only a few generations removed from the soil.

Urgent action must be taken to tackle rural homelessness as the crisis has spread far beyond urban areas, a housing charity has claim

Almost half of farmers believe protests by animal rights and vegan campaigners are having a bad impact on the rural community.

Rural dwellers are split as to whether they still have faith in the health service, with 46% claiming they do and 40% saying they do

New Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has been urged by farmers to provide a more visible police force for rural Ireland.

The National Ploughing Championships get underway in Screggan, Co Offaly this morning.

The Ploughing, one of Europe’s great festivals, begins tomorrow. A grand celebration of all things rural, it is the most popular outdoor trade event in the country.

Mary Berry is waiting for your cakes folks!

Leo Varadkar took his first bold step onto the pristine furrow — time stopped, breaths were held, and ploughing matriarch Anna May McHugh put her hands to her face in shock.

A breakfast time cocktail of Brexit, Borris, and Big Phil got the final day of the National Ploughing Championships off to a bright start at Screggan, yesterday.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is due to attend the final day of the National Ploughing Championships later.

A single candle flickered on a counter in the headquarters of the National Ploughing Championships at Screggan in Tullamore yesterday.

Despite the rain, tens of thousands of people made the trip to Screggan for day two of the event.

The celebrities who strutted their stuff on the opening day of the national ploughing championships in Screggan, Tullamore, yesterday had plenty of competition from unexpected sources.

The National Ploughing Championships officially get underway tomorrow but early arrivals are being met with very foggy conditions.

A key element of the Garda Traffic Management plan for the three-day National Ploughing Championship, which President Michael D Higgins will officially open at Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly tomorrow, will be the Horse and Jockey junction in Co Tipperary.

Are ya goin' ploughin'?

As many as 300,000 people are expected at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan near Tullamore this morning.

The 85th national ploughing championships in Screggan in Tullamore, Co Offaly, in two months time are going global.

It was a week in which the business news was dominated by the travails of dodgy German car salesmen and by the Flight of the Web Summit Earls to a less costly Lisbon.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney has said that rural Ireland has been a shining light during a difficult economic time, while Taoisech Enda Kenny unveils €30m rural renewal scheme.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to Co Laois today for the second day of the National Ploughing Championships.

President Higgins has officially opened the 84th National Ploughing Championships today in Co Laois.

More than 200,000 people are expected to attend this year’s National Ploughing Championships which gets underway in Co Laois this morning.

The 84th National Ploughing Championships get underway in Co Laois tomorrow.