The Republic of Ireland Ploughing team are celebrating yet another win on the international stage, claiming top honours at the European Reversible Ploughing Championships.

The two-day event, hosted by the European Ploughing Federation, took place in Wunderklingen, Switzerland over the weekend.

Jer Coakley from Co. Cork was named the European Champion, while Dan Donnelly from Co. Wexford claimed fourth position.

Coakley, who was ploughing with a Ford tractor and Kverneland plough, was in second place following the first day of competition on 199 points, just two points behind the leader.

A strong performance on the second day, despite difficult conditions, saw him jump to the top of the podium and finish on 397 points.

Yves Thievon from France was in second with 309 points and Beat Sprengeer from Switzerland took third with 371 points.

Dan Donnelly with his John Deere tractor and Kverneland plough held fourth position throughout the competition and ended on 333 points.

Ploughing

Anna Marie McHugh, managing director of the National Ploughing Association (NPA) congratulated Jer and Dan on their performances.

"Our guys, they’re expected to be good because they're the best of the best, but at the same time, they had really strong competition out there.

"The Swiss and the French would have been particularly good, so they really had to perform.

"Unfortunately, Dan wasn't able to catch up after the first day, but he still did very well overall to come in fourth. It still was a great performance.

"Jer coming from second then to win overall again was just a super performance," she said.

The competitors faced a range of conditions over the two days, which added to the difficulty.

"They had extremely dry conditions and then they had extremely wet conditions. That would change the soil type completely while they're there.

"The guys would have their measurements with absolute precision and then the whole thing starts again when the weather would change.

"To achieve that, to stay calm and stay focused and deal with what's in front of you and then to come and win, it’s just fantastic," McHugh said.

World championships

The win is a timely boost for the Irish team as attention turns to the World Ploughing Championships in Croatia next week.

John Whelan from Co. Wexford and Eamon Tracy from Co. Carlow will be flying the Irish flag on the world stage.

They will be joined by Gary Simms as coach and Harry Mallon as judge.

The team departed for Croatia yesterday and are already practising on site at Osijek-Baranja as they prepare to defend Ireland’s World title successes.

The international competitions will provide great motivation to hundreds of competitors here at home as they gear up for the National Ploughing Championships which is set to return to Screggan, Co. Offaly next month.