The Kerrygold Horse Show is to go ahead in August despite fears that foreign jumping teams may not be allowed to travel here.
Competitors, spectators and horses from the North may also be discouraged from attending. It remains to be seen if foreign teams will participate, given the extent of precautions applied to the event and lingering concerns about foot-and-mouth disease.
The Royal Dublin Society's chief executive, Mr Shane Cleary, said yesterday the 127th show, which costs £1 million to stage, would not be a slimmed down version of the event, which will take place from August 8th to 12th.
The expert committee advising the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has forbidden the society to use straw for bedding. Alternative material, of wood chippings, will have to be used and later destroyed.
The expert group also said showjumping teams from abroad could not use Britain as a landbridge into Ireland and concluded Northern competitors and spectators would pose a threat of spreading foot-and-mouth disease.
Because rural shows have been cancelled, there would be no animals qualified for the very large showing classes which normally form a major part of the event. Cancellation of showjumping events until last weekend because of the disease has meant that there would be difficulties arranging qualifying events.
Mr Cleary said that while the bedding ban and the storage problems would create a significant cost, this ban could be revised if the State was declared free of the disease on June 21st. "That is the day that Ireland will be declared officially free of foot-and-mouth disease and if we remain clear until then, that ban on the use of straw is likely to be lifted," he said.
Mr Noel Cawley, of An Bord Bainne, the Irish Dairy Board, which is the main sponsor of the event, welcomed the RDS decision.