A record crowd turned up yesterday at Tullamore Show, which incorporates the AIB National Livestock Show, confirming once again its position as the foremost agricultural livestock show on the island.
An estimated 50,000 people travelled in blazing sunshine to the beautiful Charleville estate on the edge of the town to watch, laze and be entertained as rural Ireland put forward its best foot.
While there may be anxiety in the farming community over the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, there was nothing to be seen on the grounds yesterday only confident, happy people enjoying themselves.
The show has expanded in the last 13 years from being a county event to a national one. It now provides a showcase for 840 classes where 40 national titles are fought for, and has a prize fund of €128,000.
And apart from the large selection of animals there were the usual bonny baby, best dressed woman and Miss Offaly competitions, to the sound of bands including a group of Spanish dancers.
One of the most talked-about exhibition winners in the horticulture competition was the collection of vegetables grown by Sidney McKnight, from Banbridge, Co Down who won the Bridge House All-Ireland championship.
The selection of vegetables included a bunch of carrots as long as a decent man's arm and parsnips which were just as large.
In the 320 trade stands, the visitor could purchase just about everything from a parrot to a set of ploughs, an apple-cake to a computer.
Mr Tom Collins, the Co Offaly chief agricultural officer, said many farmers were asking at the Teagasc stand about how CAP reform would impact on their operations. "There would appear to be no doubt that the vast majority of farmers will almost certainly opt for full decoupling of production from direct payments," he said.