Championships return to roots

The National Ploughing Championships returned to its roots today when President Mary McAleese opened the event in Athy, the scene of the first contest 78 years ago.

Some 180,000 people are expected to attend the three-day event which is being held on the farm of the Fennin family.

The event is spread over more than 600 acres and includes more than 900 exhibitors.

Machinery and livestock exhibitions form the core part of the event, but there are hundreds of stands selling everything from gourmet foods to baby clothes to garden furniture.

Proceedings from the Dáil chamber are being beamed direct to the championships and Oireachtas education officers are delivering workshops explaining how the Oireachtas works.

Opening the championships at noon, President McAleese said she was always amazed at the sheer scale of the event and the enthusiasm and spirit displayed by people who attended.

It had been “a particularly tough summer for the farming community,” she said, but said people would overcome the difficult times if they worked together. As she opened the event, the President was briefly heckled by a man wearing a t-shirt with the words “Don’t be bullied, vote no again”.

He shouted “What about our country? What about our Constitution?” before a Garda moved towards him and he left the area. President McAleese showed no reaction and continued talking as this unfolded.