NPA director disappointed at funding

THE funding that the national and world ploughing championships received from Fáilte Ireland was described as very disappointing at the end of the four-day event, which attracted a total of 220,000 people to Grangeford, Tullow, Co Carlow.

National Ploughing Association (NPA) managing director Anna May McHugh said the event was a wonderful boost for tourism with many visitors from abroad attending and all accommodation booked for miles around.

She confirmed that the event did receive funding from Fáilte Ireland, but she declined to disclose the sum.

However, Mrs McHugh said the amount was very small and one would hardly notice what it would do at the event, which cost around €3 million to stage.

“I was very disappointed with the funding we got from Fáilte Ireland,” she told a press briefing at the end of the championships.

Mrs McHugh said she could not exactly quantify what the event was worth to the region’s economy, but other sources suggested the benefits could be in the region of €20 million.

Reminded of Fáilte Ireland’s big involvement with the Ryder Cup two weeks ago, she said the two events were totally different before adding: “We will be here again next year. The Ryder Cup will not.”

Paying tribute to the Department of Agriculture and Food for the support it had given to the ploughing championships, she thanked Minister Mary Coughlan and Finance Minister Brian Cowen for recognising the importance of the event to the country.

Mrs McHugh said the combination of the world contest and the national championships worked well.

“It was a wonderful experience for many visitors from overseas. They were overwhelmed with the national championships and the way it was run,” she said.

Mrs McHugh said some of the 1,000 trade exhibitors with whom she spoke reported they had done very good business.

Mr Cowen, who presented the main awards at a banquet in Tullow on Saturday night, said that running the combined national and world championships was a magnificent organisation feat by Mrs McHugh and the NPA. He also praised the voluntary input.

Scotland’s Andrew Mitchell, a 17-year-old apprentice agricultural engineer, who was competing in the world contest for the first time, won the overall conventional title.

“I am over the moon. I can’t believe I have won,” said Andrew, whose father won the world reversible world title in 1997.

Austrian Peter Lanz was in second place and Ireland’s Eamon Tracey, a 37-year-old farmer from Garryhill, Co Carlow, won the bronze medal.

Despite heavy rain, an estimated 42,000 attended the fourth and final day of the event on Saturday.