Spirits were high as visitors poured onto the site from early morning and the day didn’t disappoint the 102,500 attendees as clear blue skies shone throughout the day, shoppers and agricultural enthusiasts joined celebrities and politicians on over 30km of metal roadway to experience a great day out. From farming to fashion, artisan foods to top-of-the range machinery; the very best of what Ireland has to offer was on display today for people of all interests to enjoy.
Commenting on attendance, Ms Anna May McHugh stated “We are extremely pleased with the turn out today. The traffic flowed well thanks to the guard’s traffic management and visitor co-operation. Everywhere you looked people were smiling and enjoying themselves experiencing the whole array of activities on offer. With the good weather set to continue along with 2 more action packed days of trading and ploughing, we are expecting similar crowds all week.
President Michael D. Higgins officially launched the event paying tribute to Ms Anna May McHugh, the Gardaí, Carlow County Council and the hundreds of volunteers and staff that are required to stage the event. He also visited the ploughing plots to examine the conditions and meet with the Under 28 conventional competitors and Horse Ploughing competitions. Having witnessed the competitive conditions and chatted with the county representatives, he then attended and visited several exhibitors to experience and witness all that the Championships has to offer
Ken Smyth from Palatine Engineering Ltd the overall winner of the prestigious “Machine of the Year’ competition with the P.P Ripper said he ‘was absolutely overwhelmed with the result.” The judges Melvin Bailey Brofi International, UCD’s Kevin McDonald and Wilfried Wolf from DLG were extremely impressed with the strength of all of the 15 entries.
With all that is happening on site tomorrow, Ballintrane, Fenagh, Co Carlow is officially the place to be for #Ploughing19.