Ali, the boxer, said he “floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee”.

From Rathcoole, Co Cork, in 1968, to Screggan, Co Offaly, Ray Ryan has seen it all and enjoyed it

New technologies helped many farmers around the world to increase their output 12-fold from 1950 to 2000, and a new age of digital technology now heralds another agricultural boom.

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.

A top ploughman died in a farm accident in Wexford yesterday as some of his family were at the National Ploughing Championships in Offaly.

Farmers from Uganda will be at the National Ploughing Championships as part of a fact-finding mission.

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

An application to appeal against Oscar Pistorius’ manslaughter conviction and five-year prison sentence will be heard in a South African court on December 9, prosecutors say.

South Africa will charge one of Nelson Mandela’s grandsons with assault and brandishing a gun at another man, a prosecutor’s official said yesterday, in a further embarrassment for the anti-apartheid hero’s large and fractious family.

The countdown to the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co Laois, at the end of September, has begun.

“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius was granted bail today, a week after he shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead at his home.

A traffic problem at New Ross in September was just one of the factors in the National Ploughing Championships move to a midlands venue for 2013.

Almost 400 people attended the National Ploughing Association’s formal unveiling of Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co Laois, as the host venue for the 2013 National Ploughing Championships on Sept 24, 25 and 26 next, bridging a 70-year gap since the event was last held in the area.

A total of 187,500 people attended the three-day National Ploughing Championships which ended on a high note at Heathpark, New Ross, Co Wexford, last evening.

A new exhibition by the Irish Agricultural Museum based at Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford — in partnership with the National Ploughing Association — celebrates the great heritage of the championships.

The UK's National Pig Association (NPA) says a worldwide shortage of bacon is "now unavoidable".

It’s the event for everyone and anyone with an interest in rural Ireland — which explains why you need 20 hours just to visit the 1,200 trade stands.

Wexford’s three times world champion Martin Kehoe was hailed as “a ploughing icon” by the Agriculture, Food and Marine Minister Simon Coveney when the programme for next week’s festival was announced on the site at Heathpark.

The president of the NPA, Jimmy Grainger of Kildare, has a long and varied tenure with the association as both competitor and judge before scaling the heights in the administrative side.

Almost €10m is spent on trade purchases at the National Ploughing Championships, generating an economic impact of €36m, according to a UCD study carried out at the 2011 event.

GARDAÍ have advised motorists going to the National Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co Kildare, not to be complacent about their travel plans.

The success of the National Ploughing Championships has a lot to do with a dynamic mother and daughter team, reports Helen O’Callaghan

LITTLE FROG, by Katie Saunders (Caterpillar Books; €7.10 HB), is a touchy-feely feast for toddlers.

GARDAÍ are advising motorists travelling to the national and European ploughing championships which begins in Athy, Co Kildare, tomorrow to plan their journey in advance.

DESPITE the economic recession, there will be a record 1,136 trade stands at the National Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co Kildare, in two weeks, it was revealed yesterday.

IT may still be less than six weeks away, but work on the Athy, Co Kildare, site works for this year’s national and European Ploughing Championships are already under way.

THE brolly-free national ploughing championships, which attracted overall attendances of almost 190,000 people over three days, ended in Athy last evening.

THE Army will today erect a bailey bridge across the Grand Canal in Athy, Co Kildare, to facilitate pedestrian access to the site of the three-day National Ploughing Championships, which begin tomorrow.

IRISH ploughmen won overall silver and bronze medals in their respective events at the world ploughing championships in Toplice, Slovenia, at the weekend.