Holding the National Ploughing Championships this year “wasn’t an option” amid fears of sparking a second wave of Covid-19.
Hundreds of thousands of people were due to throng the annual farming gala in Ballintrane, Co Carlow, this September.
But the festival trade exhibition was axed as organisers urged that public health and safety must come first.
Speaking on the last ever episode of RTE's ‘Today With Sean O’Rourke’ ahead of the broadcaster’s retirement, Assistant Managing Director of the Ploughing Anna Marie McHugh said: “We had an executive meeting yesterday afternoon and everybody’s conclusion was the same that in the interest of public health and safety, it just wasn’t an option.
“We were in touch with the Department of Agriculture and received all the various documentation that was available to us and the writing was on the wall really for us.
“Even listening to Dr Holohan just there now, there’s nothing he’s saying that would make us think there was any other option.
“And when you think of the Leaving Cert in question and the GAA in question and all of those things, we certainly could never, the Association would never live with the risk that we brought a second wave of the disease into Carlow, or into the region or spread it around the country. That’s not something we’d want to be responsible for.”
But there’s still some hope for farmers, with the event planning on hosting ploughing competitions behind closed doors, something that will be decided as the situation unfolds in the coming weeks.
The Ploughing normally plays host to around 1,700 exhibitors, with those who have already reserved their place receiving a full refund in the coming weeks.
And organisers say the economic impact for one ploughing event is in the region of €50million.
Ms McHugh added: “We had directors on from all over the country for our executive meeting yesterday... but the word finance was never even mentioned, in the minutes from the meeting. It’s not what it was about. This is way bigger.
“The Ploughing, we’re 90 years old next year and we’re about the people, we’ve always been about the public and about the people that exhibit and take part, and it’s a tough day on our exhibitors because the economic impact of one ploughing event is in the region of €45 to €50 million, so that’s huge.
“And the impact, having to write to exhibitors this morning that we’re just hoping that they get the opportunity to sell their wares this year, that’s really heart-wrenching."
