Cancellation of ploughing competition blow to Laois

The people of Ballacolla, Co Laois, have expressed bitter disappointment at the cancellation of this year's national ploughing…

The people of Ballacolla, Co Laois, have expressed bitter disappointment at the cancellation of this year's national ploughing championships, which were due to be held in the village next month.

The cancellation, because of the renewed threat from foot-and-mouth disease in Britain, represents a severe blow to the economy of south Laois, which stood to gain £20 million from the three-day event.

Last year the event attracted over 200,000 people to the picturesque village which lies between the Cork-Dublin and Limerick-Dublin roads near Durrow.

Mr Marty Phelan, who owns a hostel in the village and is a public representative for the area, said the level of disappointment was huge. "It will be a tremendous loss to businesses, he said.

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Mr David Lalor, on whose land most of the ploughing matches were to be held, said he thought the only thing that would have stopped the championships was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth in the State.

Mr Lalor said that preparations made over the past week for the championships had included the erection of marquees and the laying of aluminium sheeting in fields to facilitate car parking.

There had been intense discussions between the National Ploughing Association and the Department of Agriculture on controls which could be put in place for the event from October 2nd to 4th. On Monday the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association called for the cancellation of the event. If the championships took place, its executive council would be urging members not to attend, it said.

The absence of farm machinery would have dealt a crippling blow to the championships.

"There is grave disappointment in the area. The national ploughing championships are the biggest outdoor event in Europe and many local interests, including B&Bs and pubs, would have gained financially from having it here," he continued.

Mr Seosamh Murphy, owner of the Castle Arms Hotel, Durrow, said the cancellation represented a "substantial" financial loss to his business. He had made arrangements to get in extra stock and staff for the event and these now had to be revised. "

The second farmer on whose land the event was to be staged, Mr Robin Talbot, said he was very disappointed at the cancellation before seeing footage of the terrorist attack on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York. "It put things into perspective," he said.