Organisers deciding whether to plough on with National Championship this month

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tries to plough a straight furrow at last year's Championship.

A meeting is taking place this week to consider whether this year's National Ploughing Championships should go ahead.

Almost 300,000 people attended last year's event, and the 2020 version is due to be held in mid-September.

But organisers will only decide later this month if it can proceed, due to the coronavirus crisis.

The executive will have their first meeting since the lockdown later this week.

Anna-Marie McHugh, deputy managing director of the National Ploughing Association, says it may be able to go ahead.

She says that the National Ploughing Association will need to examine what constraints the event can work within.

She says that the "overall risk" of the championship going ahead must also be considered and that organisers are considering restructuring the event to see if only having the trade exhibition is "feasible".

"Our priority would be the health and safety of the Irish public," Ms McHugh says.