A total of 113,500 people attended day two of the National Ploughing Championships 2019, the National Ploughing Association (NPA) has confirmed.

This surpasses the attendance of the first day, yesterday, Tuesday, September 17 – amounting to some 102,500 visitors – by a considerable length.

Once again, ideal weather conditions – well suited to exploring the sprawling ‘Ploughing’ site – played an important role in large crowds descending on the venue of Fenagh, Co. Carlow.

Again, it is understood that people were arriving to the annual event well into the afternoon today.

Those who attended today were treated to everything from farming to fashion, artisan foods to top-of-the-range machinery, as well as livestock displays and ploughing competitions.

The second day of ‘Ploughing 2019’ is substantially up on the 81,500 people who attended day two of last year’s event; day two took place on the Thursday last year following the cancellation of the Wednesday event due to Storm Ali.

Flanagan urges protesters to end blockades

At today’s showing, Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan, called on farmers still protesting to end their “illegal blockades” at factory gates.

His comments come in the aftermath of an announcement by Dawn Meats this morning, Wednesday, September 18, that it had contacted Gardaí over the presence of “masked individuals” outside its plant in Grannagh on the Waterford/Kilkenny border.

Dawn Meats claimed that “hours after” a deal was agreed with farmer groups over the weekend “protesters hiding their identity with balaclavas appeared on the gates and continued their protest today”.