Next year's Ploughing will be the best ever says NPA chairman

Hotels in Offaly are already booked out for next year’s Ploughing Championships, only days after it was announced that the world’s biggest agriculture show is returning to Screggan for a second year.

Weeks of speculation finally came to an end on Sunday night when the National Ploughing Association (NPA) announced that Tullamore had been chosen once again to host the three-day event which brought over 280,000 visitors to the region last month.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, the chairman of the NPA PJ Lynam said that once his organisation was given the go-ahead by the local community in Screggan, it was an easy decision to keep the championships in Offaly for another year.

“Not one person said they didn’t want it back. It was down to them to make the final decision. If we were not invited and welcomed back, we wouldn’t be coming back.”

One of the main factors why this year’s Ploughing ran so smoothly was the traffic plan put in place by the gardai that ensured that road delays were kept to a minimum. The park and ride system introduced this year also played a major role.

The ease of access from all parts of the country is one of the primary reasons why the event is returning to Offaly in 2017 and the NPA chief is already predicting that next year’s event will be bigger and better than its predecessors.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of exhibitors and they are very happy with how they got on. We already have exhibitors on a waiting list for next year. It will be every bit as good, I’ve not doubt about that.”

While the centre of Tullamore was relatively quiet during the three days of the Ploughing, Mr Lynam said that many businesses in the town did very well in the days before and after the event.

Welcoming the return of the Ploughing for another year, the manager of the Tullamore Court Hotel Philip O’Brien says that many local accommodation providers are already booked out for 2017.

Mr O’Brien also noted that many homeowners in the Tullamore area also benefited economically by renting their houses out during the event and moving in with relatives.

“I know that some have said that town didn’t benefit but these people will pump this money back into the economy later in the year.”

Mr O’Brien also noted that the newly-formed body Offaly Tourism used the three days of the event to promote the county.
“Anything that brings that type of numbers has to be positive for the county.

Next year’s even will take place from September 19 through to September 21.