The National Ploughing Association (NPA) has elected a new president and a number of other officers, following its annual general meeting (AGM) last week.
Mick Mahon, from Co. Offaly, is the new NPA president. He takes over from Dubliner James Sutton, who had been in the role for nine years.
Mahon had previously been an assistant managing director of the NPA.
Sutton moves from the role of president to the role of assistant managing director, where he will work with managing director Anna May McHugh and the other assistant managing directors, including Anna Marie McHugh.
Elsewhere, John Deery is the new chairperson of the NPA. Deery hails from Monaghan, a county outside of the traditional ploughing strongholds, and so his election as chairperson is significant for that reason, NPA assistant managing director Anna Marie McHugh told Agriland.
Meanwhile, Patsy Condron, from Co. Laois, has been elected as vice-chairperson.
Finally, the NPA has appointed two new directors, one of whom, Martina Bernie, is the first new female director in the organisation in a number of years, according to McHugh, who welcomed Bernie’s appointment.
David McGrath, from Co. Waterford, is the other new director.
NPA sticking with online ticket sales
Speaking after the AGM, McHugh indicated that the online-only ticket sales system for the National Ploughing Championships – that started at the 2023 event – was here to stay.
As of last year, the NPA moved to a purely online system for purchasing tickets, with only unsold tickets being sold at the gate, and even then only if the event ground was not at full capacity.
McHugh told Agriland that the number of tickets sold at the gate last year was less than 10% of the total number of tickets sold.
All-in-all, 200,550 people attended ‘Ploughing 2023’ across the three days.
Even before last year’s Ploughing, online ticket sales were already accounting for approximately 65% of ticket sales in previous events.
For that reason, McHugh said, selling tickets online was increasingly being seen as the norm and the way to go within the NPA.
“Last year it was a big issue, but online sales were already 65% going into last year. It’s embedding into the organisation now. Online sales went way up last year,” the NPA assistant managing director said.