Offaly in line to host Ploughing Championship

Tullamore is “in the mix” to host next year’s National Ploughing Championships.

That’s according to the event’s PRO Anna Marie McHugh, who told the Offaly Independent that a site in the Tullamore area is one of a number being considered to host next year’s ploughing championship, an event that generated over €35m last year.

“It’s certainly in the running. Our chairman (PJ Lynam) is an Offaly/Westmeath man and he’s pushing hard for that part of the country. At the minute it’s all in the mix.

“We have got a great reaction from people in Offaly. Local farmers that we’ve met with have been more than receptive and the local community have been very positive.

“We go to a number of venues and check them out. Then it’s a process of elimination,” Ms McHugh said this week.

The last time that the ploughing championship was held in Offaly was in 2007 when the event was held in Annaharvey Farm on the outskirts of Tullamore.

Since then the event has grown to become the biggest agricultural show in the world with almost 280,000 people attending last year’s event at Ratheniska.

The Laois venue will play host again this year.

Whether or not Offaly gets chosen for 2016, Ms McHugh revealed that the county won’t have too long to wait for the National Ploughing Championships to return.

“It’s no harm to say that if Tullamore doesn’t come up trumps this year, the Ploughing Championships will definitely be in Offaly in the near future. It’s something to look forward to.”

Busily preparing for this year’s championships, Ms McHugh said that Tullamore’s central location and history of staging large-scale events such as the Fleadh and the town’s annual agricultural show are definite advantages when it comes to the selection of venues.

“It’s vital (a central location). In recent years it’s become very evident that events have to be staged within an hour or hour and half from Dublin.

'We have a lot of international exhibitors and they have to be close to the ferry and airports.”