Bansha show fuses past and present

A PINT of porter cost one shilling and four pence around the time Bansha Show was founded in south Tipperary 50 years ago.

That little nugget of information was to be aptly found at the golden jubilee show yesterday on a slate bearing a list of pint prices down the years.

The slate with the incorporated list was one of the items on sale in one of the many market and trade stands at the event which Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan officially opened.

Men at the inaugural show in 1956, held as part of Civic Week, swore no doubt that they would follow the price of the pint to two bob but not a penny more.

Those commitments were made to be broken by successive generations, but the people who organised the show down the years have kept to their vision of having an annual celebration of all that is best about rural life.

Ms Coughlan said Bansha Show has become an institution in south Tipperary and while it fuses together the present and the past quite comfortably, it also undoubtedly looks ahead to meeting the challenges of the future.

“I am very optimistic about that future and I believe that together, all of us working for a sustainable and successful future for Irish agriculture can and will realise that vision,” she said.

Ms Coughlan paid tribute to the work of the late John Canon Hayes, one of the founders of the show, and the founder, of course, of Muintir na Tíre.

“Through the ideals of Muintir na Tíre, he fanned a great spirit of development, self-help and neighbourliness among parish communities throughout Ireland. It remains, to this day, a driving force for community development,” she said.

A diverse range of items from solid fuel stoves to toys and books about chickens and other animals were on sale at the trade stands while good entries were reported from the horse, cattle and other classes.

It was a nostalgic day for Fianna Fáil TD Noel Davern, who is retiring at the next general election.

Wishing him well in his retirement, Ms Coughlan said Mr Davern has made a substantial contribution to Irish public life as a TD, and minister.