A HUGE effort is under way to weatherproof the 600-acre site in Co Kilkenny which will cater for an anticipated attendance of 150,000 at the National Ploughing Championships later this month.
Like farming in general, the poor weather has created problems for the National Ploughing Association as it awaits an opportunity to clear the site at Cuffesgrange of cereal crops which cannot be harvested because of current conditions.
The association's managing director Anna May McHugh said yesterday: "We are just praying for some good weather but we are putting infrastructure in place and plans in place to ensure that the event can go on without disruption." The event takes place over three days from September 23rd.
Ms McHugh said the organisation was laying down 15km of steel trackway, more than it had ever done before, to facilitate movement around the site.
"We have an extra hundred acres of car parking space in the event of really bad weather and we have the facility to switch to fresher ground and move the trackway should that happen."
As the site is just five miles from Kilkenny city, an additional plan which would see patrons "park and ride" from Kilkenny has been prepared by the organising committee. Iarnród Éireann has also put plans in place to run a bus shuttle service from the city's railway station to the site.
The championships will be formally opened by the Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, at midday on September 23rd.
As the site was being pegged out for 900 trade stands, marshals were in place yesterday to ensure that lorries and tractors delivering the essential water, electricity and telephone services to the site did not stray off the tracks and damage the ground.
The annual gathering of farming folk will cost more than €3 million to stage this year and is expected to be the largest ploughing championships to date.
Organisers believe it will bring at least €20 million to the local economy. The exhibition area alone will take up 60 acres and the demonstration area will cover an area of 32 acres.
About 400 acres have been set aside for car parking and 200 acres will be used for the numerous ploughing competitions, which include 19 All Ireland finals.
Apart from the huge array of trade demonstrations, a number of Government agencies will be in attendance, including the Defence Forces. All the political parties have official stands at the event.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has indicated that if his schedule allows, he will visit the event, probably on the opening day.
Organisers say all accommodation in the Kilkenny area has been booked out for the festival. Kilkenny Tourism is working with adjoining county organisations to find beds for visitors.
Garda Supt Pat Ward said a special traffic plan had been drawn up for the event and he believed that because of the number of link roads to the site, traffic delays should be at a minimum.