Author: National Ploughing Association

Opening day of the National Ploughing Championships saw larger than anticipated numbers descending on the 800 acre site in Ratheniska, Co Laois with over 81,000 passing through the turnstiles. This represents an increase of just over 29,000 on last year’s figure of 52,000 for the same day. With good weather forecast and positive traffic reports, large visitor numbers are expected again tomorrow.

Prior to officially opening Ireland’s largest tradeshow and agricultural event, President Michael D. Higgins took to the trackway to meet several exhibitors before traveling out to the plots to witness the ever popular sport of competitive ploughing. Taking the time to meet some of Ireland’s most respected ploughmen, President Higgins witnessed first-hand the competitive spirit that has resulted in Ireland’s incredible successes of late on the world ploughing stage in Canada. Some of this success also appears to have rubbed off on the local Ploughmen of Laois with the county securing 2 first place winners, 3 second place winners and 1 ploughman taking a third placing; an all-round successful day for the county.

With crowds thronging the 22 kilometres of trackway, reports indicate that business on day one of the event was extremely successful for the 1400 exhibitors taking stands. Numerous exhibitors using the allure of celebrity figures, drew the attention of the visiting public; all eager to meet sporting legends such as Paul O’Connell, John “The Bull” Hayes, Alan Quinlan, Lar Corbett, Joe Canning, Pádraic Maher, Anthony Daly, Darren O’Neill and Mark Rohan, to name a few.

Speaking at the close of Day 1, Ms Anna May McHugh stated “The weather over the past few weeks has resulted in excellent ground conditions under foot, making it very pleasant for both exhibitor and visitor alike. However, the dry conditions have made it slightly more difficult for competitors from a ploughing perspective. This is something they will have to accommodate for over the coming days”. Referring to the large attendance numbers, Ms McHugh continued “We are delighted with the increased visitor number reported today. This is partially due to the staging of the event in a central location, fair weather and a well organised traffic management plan put in place by An Garda Síochána”.

Visitors to the National Ploughing Championships tomorrow can expect another action packed day for all the family with some of the highlights including the ever popular “Most Appropriately Dressed Lady” and “Most Appropriately Dressed Gent” competitions which are kindly sponsored by Wineport Lodge and Louis Copeland & Sons which takes place at 3pm in the Fashion Marquee. Those attending the Fashion Shows throughout the day are also encouraged to complete an entry form for the “Grand Audience Prize” which is a voucher to the value of €500 kindly sponsored by Thomas Cook Holidays. Also taking place tomorrow is the National Ploughing Championships “Tweetup”. All avid tweeters are welcome to attend this #Ploughing event in front of the Band Stand at 2pm.

Lions to Screen 5,000 at Ploughing Championship

Up to 5,000 visitors to the 2013 National Ploughing Championship in Ratheniska, Co. Laois are expected to avail of free Diabetes Screening, provided by Lions Clubs from the region.

A team of 120 Lions and qualified nurses will be at the Lions Stand at the Championships from 24th. to 26th. September.  They will offer visitors a simple, painless blood test which is designed to identify early symptoms of diabetes. The service will run from 8am to 6pm on each day of the Ploughing Championships and the Lions are confident that they will exceed the 4,757 visitors who availed of the test in New Ross last year.

The incidence of diabetes is accelerating rapidly in Ireland due to diet and lifestyle changes and many people who are vulnerable to the disease remain oblivious of the risk that they are running. Medical experts estimate that up to 50,000 people with diabetes in Ireland are unaware of their condition.

The 2,500 Lions in 115 Lions Clubs throughout Ireland, work to raise awareness of diabetes and organise frequent screening days all over the country. They have been offering this service at the National and World Ploughing Championships for many years and an indication of its effectiveness is the 365 participants in the 2012 test who were referred to their GP for further examination. This represented 8% of those tested.

Lions also liaise with the Diabetes Society of Ireland and will be distributing its information literature at the National Ploughing Championships.The service at the 2013 National Ploughing Championships is organised by nine Lions Clubs in the Midlands Region- Portarlington,  Athy, Monasterevin, Abbeyleix, Newbridge/Kildare, Portlaoise, Kilcullen, Tullamore and Carlow

Media are invited to visit the Lions Stand where a special area will be set aside for photo opportunities with visiting dignitaries and well known personalities.

The sun was shining down on the crossroads of Ireland in the townsland of Rathensika, Stradbally, Co Laois this week as the NPA executive travelled to the site of this year’s National Ploughing Championships for the official event launch. There they walked the green fields that will soon host nearly two hundred acres of ploughing competitions and a hundred acres of a grassland trade arena.

Taking place from 24th to 26th September the National Ploughing Championships, long regarded as Ireland’s largest outdoor event, is making a long overdue return visit to the area for the first time in seventy years. The Championships last took place in Lamberton, Ratheniska in 1943.

Working in conjunction with Laois Partnership and Tourism Ireland, ‘Laois Ploughing Village’ promises to be a superb addition to this year’s event. The ‘Laois Ploughing Village’ marquee will be hosting an array of uniquely Laois attractions, including a traditional Irish Céilí, Laois photo exhibitions, genealogy workshops with presentations by Henry Healy, and a fantastic panel display of the History of Ploughing through the ages. Furthermore, the ‘Laois Ploughing Village’ marquee will be incorporating a brand new playground on their site, sponsored by Go Play/Kompan, with an array of exciting equipment, assuring to be a wonderful appeal to both children and adults . ‘Welcome to Laois’ packs will be distributed to visitors of the marquee promoting all the uniquely Laois attractions this county has to offer.
This year will see an array of new and exciting exhibitor’s as well as hundreds of veteran companies showcasing their products and services.  In the machinery section for the first time we have Lucas G SAS, travelling from France to showcase their feeders, straw bedders and diet feeders. McHale will be introducing the Fusion 3 integrated baler wrapper along with their 5000 series of fixed chamber balers. On the motoring front we have Renault Trucks Ireland and Volkswagen Commercial the official motoring sponsors to the event.

In the competitive ploughing stakes a particularly strong programme has attracted entries from all around the country and Northern Ireland bringing the number preparing to plough in Laois to three hundred and thirty over the three days. Our newly crowned World Ploughing Champions, John Whelan of Wexford and Carlow man Eamon Tracey will both be defending their national titles in the reversible and conventional classes. Competitions will also feature vintage ploughing and loy digging. Results are announced each day in the evening at 6pm from the bandstand and over €18,000 is available in prizes.
There will be no need for the fashion police at Ploughing 2013 as our Fashion Show makes an even bigger return to the event. Coordinated by Holman Lee agency over eleven outlets will showcase the best of the Autumn/Winter fashions and sponsors Wineport Lodge and Louis Copeland will provide the Most Appropriately Dressed Lady and Gentleman competition prizes. Thomas Cook will sponsor holiday vouchers to the value of €500 to two lucky audience members attending one of the trice daily shows over the course of the three days.

The NPA Site Team is making great strides on marking out the Trade Arena, which is expected to exceed the size of the 2012 Championships with 1300 exhibitors. Exhibitors are choosing to press rewind on the recession by coming on board in huge numbers to showcase their wares. The exhibition arenas are now full and a waiting list is in operation pending cancellations.

The NPA Food & Beverages Hall will showcase Ireland’s finest producers of Agri-food and drink. Truly Irish, Ballymaloe Relish and O’Brien’s Fine Foods are among those exhibiting. Bord Bia and National Dairy Council will demonstrate all that is good about Irish food with the ICA holding food demos by celebrity chefs Cathal Moran of Wineport Lodge and Edward Hayden of TV3 fame and Edward Entertains. Nevin Maguire will be entertaining the foodies in the Farmers Journal tent while chef of the year, Paul Flynn will feature in the RTE tent. Food retail kings Aldi, Tesco and Lidl will promote Irish sourced produce along with running customer competitions in their marquees.

Our 2013 championships will see the welcome return of a revamped Innovations Arena. This year the NPA in conjunction with Toplink.ie will provide an Innovations tent for over twenty innovators to display their product. One lucky entrepreneur will be selected to win a prize of €1500 to showcase their product at the 2014 Lamma Show in England. The NPA are proud to promote all that is exciting in the field of innovations as it is the future of farming. Carlow Enterprise Board will be advising farmers on how to use Twitter and social media technology with their ‘Write on Track’ clinics.

The Forestry Village will feature the All-Ireland ‘Husqvarna Hurdle’, a new competitive obstacle course sure to put all in attendance through their paces. Advisory Authorities and many of the services associated with this sector will also feature . The Irish Hawking Club will display indigenous Irish Birds of prey such as the Golden Eagle and Barn Owl. Chewy the giant dog will be roving the site as part of the Chewys Worm Patrol Roadshow whom is visiting with us this year to promote their ‘Get Worm Wise Educational Tour’. Stradbally Allotments under the watchful eye of Noel Ryan will cater for all those with green fingers giving advice on gardening, orchards and poly tunnel maintenance.

In the vintage section, Irish Vintage Scene will be running a ‘Live Tractor Build Challenge’ with six teams competing over three days. Among those competing are ‘Heathers Angels’ a ladies team from Cavan who will surely put it up to current All-Ireland champions ‘Harry Heroes’ from Moylough in Co Galway. On the pony games front over 30 teams will compete with the Junior Hunt Chase Wednesday and Senior Hunt Chase on Thursday.

Accommodation across the area is filling fast and those planning to stay in the region are recommended to contact Laois Tourism in Portlaoise on 057 8621178 or Jessica Dowling on 087 3304539 for unregistered accommodation.

This year, demand for exhibition space has been at a record high and over 1,300 exhibitors will be displaying their products or services during the three days. They will be extremely busy over the coming two weeks preparing elaborate displays, promotions and giveaways to treat and attract the visiting public.

The main attraction at the championships still remains to be Machinery with many top brands taking very large exhibits at the event. For example, Tractor enthusiasts will be spoiled for choice with displays, demonstrations and advice from brands such as New Holland, Massey Ferguson, Valtra, Landini, McCormick, Case IH, Deutz-Fahr, ECI, Shire, Claas, Manitou, Zetor, Tumosan, and Kubota.

The Livestock Arena promises to be a huge attraction this year with many very valuable prizewinning animals on show.  At the centre of this Arena the Lely Robotic Milking Demonstrations is set to attract thousands of visitors from both the farming and non-farming communities as such a demonstration has never before been seen at an Irish Exhibition.

Other main attractions include exhibitions in areas such as Forestry, Lifestyles & Leisure, Information Technology, Educational & Business Agencies & Colleges, Hotels & Tourism, a Renewable Energies Village, Information Services, Craft Fair, Equestrian, Home & Garden, Agri-Business & Services, Financial Services, Engineering and a Motoring Arena.

The trade arena will feature a number of huge marquees that will focus on various interests like Food & Wine, Lifestyle & Tourism, House & Home, Retail, Health and Wellness, Education & Business and Agri. Services with the National Dairy Council, Laois Ploughing Village, Leader Village and Bord Bia all featuring. Laois Ploughing will be launching a “Childrens Playground” which is a first for the Ploughing in partnership with Go Play/Kompan. For foodies at the Ploughing there will be celebrity chef cookery demonstrations throughout the event, numerous food exhibits, lots of options to sample, flavours from around Ireland as well as International and local producers along with 40 caterers servicing 3 large catering parks throughout the sight.

This year marks the fifth staging of the Championships in Co. Laois and the Bandstand line-up will feature much of the local Laois talent including Portlaoise Gospel Choir, Rathensika Marching Band and the Laois School of Music Orpheus Orchestra. Over the three days, visitors will be entertained by Marching Bands, Traditional Musicians, Irish Dancers, along with some of the more nationally known entertainers.

 ‘The Husqvarna Hurdle’ will feature an obstacle course to wow the crowds and test their skills and speed over poles and wood . In addition, the Live Tractor Build will make a return to the event which features six competitive teams. Other highly popular attractions include Sheep Shearing, Junior and Senior Hunt Chase, Vintage Machinery Exhibition and Threshing Demonstrations, Fashion Shows, Horse Ploughing, Sheep Dog Trials, Loy Digging, Meggers, Celebrity Cookery Demonstrations, Outdoor Radio Broadcasts and much more.

With all that is taking place, large visitor numbers in excess of 187,000 are expected again this year. In accommodating this influx of visitors, several hundred acres of free car parking spaces are currently being prepared surrounding the event site. The event entry fee also remains extremely good value with admission for adults at €20, Students and OAP’s at €15 and children under 12 (accompanied by an adult) go for free. In addition, a 10% discount is available for pre-booked Student groups. For ticket bookings, contact 00 353 (0)59 8625125 or email tickets@npa.ie