THEY SAY when you have a problem, call in the Army and that is exactly what the National Ploughing Association (NPA) has done to help cope with the staging of Ireland’s largest outdoor event near Athy from 22-24th September.
The problem facing the organisers of the National Ploughing Championships was how to get the expected crowd of up on 200,000 people to the Cardenton site without having to go near Athy which has traffic problems every day.
But Athy is a town with a lot of canals and rivers around it, so enter the Army and one Bailey bridge which will be erected to allow pedestrian access to the 600-acre site across the Grand Canal. The bridge will be built over the next two weeks from Cluan Mhuire on the outskirts of Athy from the car parking area there which will serve people coming to the event.
Traffic management has always been a major headache for the NPA, but this year, according to public relations officer Anna Marie McHugh, a very specific plan to defeat long delays, has been painstakingly drawn up.
The local Garda superintendent John Murphy appealed to the public to follow the traffic plan which is already up on the Garda and NPA websites to cope with the expected attendances of 50,000 on opening day, 80,000 on day two and 50,000 on the closing day. “The whole idea is to try and keep the traffic out of Athy, so it can function as a normal business town. The plan is very specific and, if followed, should cut down on delays.”
Ms McHugh said Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann, had put together attractive packages for getting to the site and the NPA was hoping that if 10 per cent of those expected used public transport, it would ease the difficulties.
Despite the gloom and doom in farming circles, the event is destined to be bigger and better than ever this year, with 1,000 trade stands and plots for the 300 ploughing competitors from around the world.
Anna May McHugh, managing director of NPA, said while exhibitors had been slower to commit to the show this year, the site was now booked out and the show would feature the largest ever exhibition space.The championships will cost in the region of €3.5 million to stage this year and will be officially opened on Tuesday 22nd by the President Mary Mc Aleese. The Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, will attend on Thursday and the Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, comes to the site on Wednesday 23rd.
Mrs McHugh, said she was delighted the 78th Championships were being held this year in Athy only a few miles from where the first championships were staged in Coursetown, for the princely sum of nine pounds, three shillings and sixpence. The host farm will be Fennin family. Eamon Fennin said yesterday: “God had tested the site with as much rain as he could over the last few weeks, and now he hoped he would try to test it with a few weeks of drought”.