150,000 expected at ploughing championships

Around 150,000 people are expected to visit the National Ploughing Championships which starts tomorrow in Co Offaly.

The event, which has become one of the biggest agricultural shows in Europe and attracts a huge commercial and public interest from outside the farming community, will be opened by President Mary McAleese at midday, and will take place on a 500-acre site at the Annaharvey farm near Tullamore.

Ideal weather conditions are forecast for the three-day event, with a mixture of sunshine and showers expected for tomorrow's opening.

As usual, a large contingent of the Cabinet will be there.

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen, for whom it is his home constituency, will be present at the opening, as will Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan and her Northern counterpart Michelle Gildernew.

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív will open a craft and food village on site, and has agreed to participate in a debate about rural walkways.

It will be a first visit to the championships for Trevor Sargent ihis capacity as Minister of State for Food and Horticulture.

The Taoiseach is set to visit on Thursday if he does not have Mahon tribunal commitments.

This year's ploughing championships will revert to a three-day event as last year's, which was held in Danefort, Co Carlow, stretched over four days because the World Ploughing Championships were held at the same time.

This year 300 competitors will battle it out for 18 national titles over the course of the three days. The competition gets under way at 10.30am.

The forecast for light showers should make the ground ideal for ploughing following an unusually dry September.

A total of 850 exhibitors will utilise the 60 acres of exhibition space.

They will include finance companies, sporting bodies, educational institutions, machinery manufacturers, hotels, Government departments and property exhibitors from all over Europe.

Manitoba in Canada will be there to showcase property in the province and will be trying to persuade Irish farmers to sell up and move there where land is cheap and overheads are significantly lower.

A new addition to this year's programme is the bioenergy village which will showcase alternative energy products and services. These will include wind turbines, biomass boilers, solar energy crops and biomass fuels.

A major traffic management plan has been set up.

Traffic coming from the south and southeast will travel north via Abbeyleix on the N8 to the Togher roundabout outside Portlaoise and then follow the signs to the championships.

Event traffic from the west, northwest and north will travel through Moate into Kilbeggan on the N6, where traffic will then be diverted on to a designated route to the car parks.

Five hundred local volunteers will be taking part in the event. Many will be involved in stewarding motorists to their car parking spaces which will be located on 350 acres.