A decision on whether the National Ploughing Championships 2020 will go ahead is expected to be made by early June.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1 today, Wednesday, April 22, Anna Marie McHugh of the National Ploughing Association (NPA), stated that it was possible that the ploughing competition could go ahead without the exhibition part of the event.
McHugh was speaking after the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, announced that there would be no gatherings of over 5,000 people in the country until September 1 this year.
Social distancing and any further restrictions would be a massive problem.
“There’s clarity until the end of the summer at least, we know where we are going. We haven’t engaged with the Government yet because there were too many other more important things happening…but now that it has been determined what is happening until the end of August, we have to initiate contact with the Government and we will be taking its directive one what to do,” McHugh outlined.
This year’s event is scheduled to kick off on September 15 – just 14 days after the end of the restrictions on gatherings over 5,000.
Businesses are continuing to book exhibitions space for the event, and the next step would be for the event site to be mapped out.
So early June would be the absolute outset on when we would have to make a decision in relation to the exhibition.
“What’s happening in the country is far greater than the ‘Ploughing’, and if there’s going to be any risk whatsoever to the Irish public, we won’t be happening, and I can ensure people of that,” McHugh stressed.
World Ploughing Championships
McHugh highlighted the significance of this year’s ploughing match, with the winners qualifying for the World Ploughing Championship ‘on home soil’ in Ireland next year.
McHugh, who is also the secretary of the World Ploughing Organisation, said that it was likely that there would be two world championships next year – the Ireland-hosted event and and a Russia-hosted event deferred from this year.
“There was a risk that we might not get to run the world championship next year because of this – that we’d be pushed back – but it is [the National Ploughing Championships’] 90th anniversary, so we’re fairly guaranteed at this stage by the world organisation that we’re going to get to do that,” McHugh explained.