The National Ploughing Association (NPA) says it has been left “totally in the dark” by the government’s reopening plan and how it will impact on this year’s Ploughing Championships.
Speaking to Agriland, NPA assistant managing director Anne Marie McHugh said that the NPA, and other organisations that operate rural outdoor events, do not know that the “status” will be for the summer and autumn, and what restrictions can be expected by then.
“We just don’t know. There’s no outline at the moment that I’m aware of as to what the situation is expected to look like,” McHugh said.
“We’re all terribly conscious of Covid and I will say, from the NPA’s perspective, that will always be the priority. We have no intention of doing anything that will be of any risk to the general public.
“But the clock is ticking, and we’re within weeks of needing to get on-sight to initiate our site work. I wouldn’t be any more confident since yesterday that there’s a roadmap for us,” she added.
Noting that the government has set up a taskforce to look at large-scale events, McHugh said that the NPA had never been part of that, consulted or asked for comment. She also said she did not know what entities are on that taskforce.
“This is not about whether the ploughing gets to go ahead. It’s just about the thing being done; how it’s going to be done; and how it’s going to be done right,” she remarked.
She added: “The rural economy has to be remembered as well.”
Trial events
The government will also be organising trial events where a certain number of participants or spectators will be permitted.
However, the NPA assistant managing director queried if these would include any rural-based events.
“There’s a huge difference between stadium events and field events. There’s no comparison. The trial events are things like GAA matches. They can absolutely go for that because they can have people two, three or four seats apart,” she noted.
“That’s very different to what an outdoor country event is going to be.”
NPA preparations
McHugh highlighted the workload facing the NPA at present.
Among that is sending out the applications to the exhibitors, which usually go out in March in a typical year.
Following that, engineers will begin mapping out the site in the field. Meanwhile, there is ongoing consultation with local services in Co. Laois, where this year’s ‘ploughing’ will be held (specifically in Ratheniska).
“Will we have to separate that stands? Would we be expected to have more toilets? Will everybody have to wear a facemask? Would you have to have different hospital facilities? It’s right across the board. There’s so many elements.”
‘We’ve been told nothing’
McHugh highlighted: “We are the biggest outdoor event in the country and we’ve been told noting. We have asked, and we’ve offered to collaborate and to be informed.
“I would ask the question: Is it because we are rural?
“[The whole] events industry could have been consulted about this and it could have been teased out. The timeline is so tight for everybody,” she continued.
“We needed to start talking a long time ago. We could have been ready to press the green button, because we would have known ‘when you get to this point, this will happen’ because you would have know what to expect.
“But we’re totally in the dark.”
She also stressed that the World Ploughing Championships will be held at the same location at the same time.
Referring again to the taskforce established by the government, McHugh said: “I’d love to know who from rural events is on the taskforce. And I don’t mean a big concert located outside of Dublin, I mean from the agri-sector events.
“Surely one of us would have been eligible to be involved and have something to bring to the table.”
She continued: “We’re taking on board everything that came out yesterday [Thursday], going through that in detail, and making our own decisions. We won’t be waiting to see what happens. We have to make our own decisions and take it from there. The uncertainty isn’t a positive.
“We won’t be going anywhere, we’ve had tough times before, but we need to put the thinking caps on now… and just think: ‘If we do this, what will be the outcome? If we do that, what will be the outcome?’ We’re watching for every single morsel of information,” McHugh explained.