Category: News

Innovation Arena Awards open for applications

Posted on by

Total prize fund to the value of over €80,000

Embargo, Friday 6 April 2018

Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation ArenaAwards at the National Ploughing Championships, in conjunction with the Irish Farmers Journal, are now open for applications from Irish companies within the agri sector. The awards will take place within the popular Innovation Arena at the heart of the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, 18-21 September 2018.

The Innovation Arena is a unique platform from which Irish companies can showcase pioneering developments in the agri sector and related subsectors such as agri-tech and agri-engineering. This year’s arena will also feature a conference venue where companies can launch new productsand present to international buyers – over 100 buyers from all over the globeattended last year.

Judging for the awards will take place at the arena throughout the three-day event in categories including ‘Agri Engineering’ and ‘Agricultural Technology’. The overall start-up winner will be eligible to win up to €15,000  prize package.

In addition to propelling Irish innovations to a world stage, this year’s Arena will feature seminars on key issues affecting the sector including Brexit and Global Marketsand facilitate crucialnetworking opportunities for attending companies. Last year’s competition attracted 200 entries ;  69 were shortlisted as finalist exhibitorsat the Innovation Arena.

Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland said: “The Irish agri sector is a rapidly increasing contributor to the economy and the companies who display their innovations each year at the Innovation Arena are a stellar example of the innovative and revolutionary development taking place in this country. Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting companies with global ambition who have innovation at the core of their business, and for this reason, the Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships, where the top innovations are showcased for international buyers, is a key event for us. I am also delighted to say that the ‘Innovation Boot Camp’ will once again take place on August 15. This Boot Camp will deliver advice, mentoring, and support for innovators in the agri sector.”

Eoin Lowry, Deputy Editor, Irish Farmers Journal said:“Ireland has a prominent agricultural industry and The Farmers Journal’s involvement with the Innovation Arena is reflective of our position as a driver of innovation within this space. Globally, Ireland has a reputation as an industrial leader and the Innovation Arena highlights the change and development occurring within the sector. The Farmers Journal is delighted to once again partner with Enterprise Ireland and the National Ploughing Championships to promote and support the companies at the forefront of sector.”

Anna May McHugh, Managing Director of the National Ploughing Championships said:“The National Ploughing Championships has been a focal point of innovation since its establishment. Agriculture is deeply rooted in Irish culture and is a significant factor in rural Ireland’s economic growth. We are again delighted to team up with Enterprise Ireland and the Farmers Journal to facilitate the Innovation Arena for 2018. I look forward to seeing the leaders in agri-innovation as they leverage the Arena to showcase all we have to have offer in terms Irish manufacturing and products.”

The 2018 NPA Innovation Arena prize fund equates to over €80,000 in supports.  The overall award winner will receive a top prize worth €15,000 from Enterprise Ireland and The Irish Farmers Journal which includes advertising and PR support, mentoring and a cash prize of €5,000. All finalists will receive an advertising voucher to promote their innovation through the Irish Farmers Journal and a subsidised stand in the Innovation Arena for 2018.The final participants for the 2018 Innovation Arena will be selected on July 23.          

To enter this year’s Innovation Arena Awards please visit: www.innovationarena.ie

All Roads Lead to NPC ’18!

Posted on by

Top Oil, the official fuel sponsor of this year’s National Ploughing Championships have joined forces again with the NPA, following several successful years, to brand more than one hundred road-sign billboards nationwide reminding the country that “the Ploughing” in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly from September 18th to 20th is fast approaching.

At the Top Oil/Ploughing launch NPA Managing Director Anna May McHugh spoke of how she looked forward to working with Top Oil in the run up to and during this year’s Championships and said “I am delighted that Top Oil and this year’s National Ploughing Championships will continue with this winning partnership.

As the main fuel sponsors, Top Oil have a great appreciation of the importance of the National Ploughing Championships with a visitor attendance of 291,500. They will supply all the event fuel requirements for the 3 days including fuelling all the generators for powering the site, the lighting towers that extend out to a radius of over 30 km from the main site, all the event machinery, upwards of 350 competitors tractors and that’s without even touching on the 1,700 exhibitor requirements.”

Andrew Meagher, Head of Sales, Direct & Reseller at Top Oil expressed how much Top Oil was looking forward to this year’s Championships “We are proud to be providing quality fuels and excellent customer service to local businesses and farming communities across Ireland for many years and are delighted to be supporting this prestigious event for our fifth consecutive year.
There is always great excitement throughout our nationwide network of Top Oil depots and retail sites about the ploughing and this year is no different.

We are really looking forward to working closely with The National Ploughing Association again this year. Our two organisations have our roots in local rural communities and we very much look forward to supporting the NPA to showcase and celebrate the very best of rural Ireland.

We welcomed many customers, new and old, to our stand at the Ploughing last year and we are very much looking forward to this year’s event at Screggan from 18th to 20th September.”

Showcasing the Best of Irish Food, Farming and Culture, follow the excitement of the build up to #Ploughing18 on www.facebook.com/nationalploughingchampionships or www.twitter.com/@NPAIE. For further information on all things ‘Ploughing’ related – please contact info@npa.ie/ 059 8625125.

If You Have A Passion for Fashion #PLOUGHING17 Is A Must

Posted on by

The specially featured Fashion Shows continue to be a key attraction at the National Ploughing Championships and this year sees an even greater number of boutiques and fashion houses taking part. With each show lasting over an hour, fashion followers will be treated to all the latest styles and designs of the coming season.

Shows take place daily at 11.30 am, 1.30 pm and 3.30 pm with the Holman Lee Model Agency partnering the NPA once again this year.  Fashionista Celia Holman Lee will act as compere during each show, with models taking to the catwalk to model the latest lines and designs. Some of the participating boutiques/fashion outlets taking part in the Fashion Shows this year include:  Dunbarrys, Vanity Fair in Newbridge, Bella Mariee Bridal in Athboy and Stables at The Emporium in Birr.

This year the ever popular ‘Most Appropriately Dressed Lady’ will win a prize of over €3,000.  The winner will receive a weekend escape for two in The g Hotel staying in their most luxurious accommodation, the Linda Evangelista Suite.

Not only out to spoil the ladies that attend the National Ploughing Championships on Wednesday 20th of September, the men too are in for a designer treat! The Most Appropriately Dressed Gentleman will receive a prize of an exclusive custom-made suit sponsored by Master Tailor himself, Louis Copeland and weekend away in the Bridge House Hotel.

Throughout Wednesday 20th of September, undercover judges will be circulating throughout the site on the look-out for potential winners, so dress to impress! If you are handed a finalist tag, please make sure to be at the Fashion Show marquee at 3.30pm for the final judging and presentation of prizes.

On top of all this style and elegance, there will be numerous really high standard, great quality fashion/clothing outlets taking stands at this year’s event showcasing country clothing, footwear, rain gear, hats, gloves, sports gear, menswear, children’s fleeces, work wear, ladies shoes and outfits, bags/purses and much much more!

EIR Speeds Championships

Posted on by

Speeds of up to 1,000Mbs Available to all Exhibitors

As the first of over 30 kilometres of trakway for the 86th National Ploughing Championships is currently being laid to transform a green field in Screggan, Co. Offaly into the bustling hub that will become #Ploughing17.  This year there will be an additional 5 kilometres of track to greatly enhance visitor experience.  The NPA are also delighted to re-connect again with open eir as the communications sponsor for this year’s Ploughing.

As Europe’s largest outdoor event this is a major technical undertaking, last year’s event was attended by 283,000 visitors and this year there will be over 1,700 exhibitors.  The National Ploughing Championships will take place this year from Tuesday 19th of September to Thursday 21st of September.

Anna May McHugh, NPA Managing Director said “Staying connected and in touch has never been more important than in this modern age, which is why we are thrilled to renew our communications partnership with open eir.  Improving visitor experience is always a priority for the National Ploughing Championships and this year is no exception with open eir providing free charging units for mobile devices and wifi hotspots located throughout the site for attendees to use.”

Carolann Lennon, Managing Director at open eir said “We are delighted to once again be the Official Communications Partner at the 2017 National Ploughing Championships. The event is the highlight in the calendar for thousands of people across the country and we are very much looking forward to being a part of that. open eir has strong links with communities across rural Ireland and we continue to invest significantly in communications and broadband networks right across the country. Reliable high speed broadband is crucial to the sustainability of rural Ireland and that’s why our teams are working hard to deliver world class broadband speeds. We understand the critical importance of broadband – for education, for families, for farming and non-farming businesses – and the benefits it brings in terms of employment and quality of life.  No other operator is investing more than open eir in broadband rollout.

We hope our sponsorship will also help improve the quality of experience for visitors through our investment in technology at the Championships including our wifi hotspots on site. Do make sure to visit our stand– we’ll have a team of people there providing up to date detailed information on broadband rollout for every town and county and we would be delighted to answer any questions visitors have”.

An extended Trade Arena will see the return of the popular Tented Retail Village with demand necessitating the return of the “Dome” the biggest Arcade ever, with over 120 exhibitors displaying in the one arena plus hundreds more located in specialist Pavilions.

In the ploughing stakes a particularly strong programme has attracted entries from all around the country and Northern Ireland bringing the number preparing to plough in Offaly to 368 over the 3 days. There has been a substantial increase in this year’s Novice class bringing the total to over 20 entrants, which signals great interest in the next generation of ploughers.

All of the firm favourite traditional attractions are set to return this year such as Fashion, Meggers, Sheep Shearing, Hunt Chase, Pony Games, Live Music and Dancing, Vintage Ploughing, Threshing, Sheep Dog Trials, Loy Digging, with celebrities and well known faces everywhere Ploughing 2017 is not to be missed.