Increased running costs have put some local agricultural shows in NI at risk of being permanently cancelled, a committee of MLAs has been told.

Speaking to Stormont’s agriculture committee last week, Marjorie Blackburn from the Irish Shows Association highlighted that Fermanagh Show did not run last year.

“Fermanagh will hopefully get going at some stage, but you could say it has fallen off because of a lack of funding.

A few of the smaller shows are in danger of folding if they don’t get support,” she said.

A key talking point of last week’s meeting was an independent report, published in June 2023, which recommended that DAERA set up a two-tier funding model for local shows in NI. The proposal would have an annual cost of up to £190,000, if £5,000 was made available for each event to cover running costs and a further £100,000 was put up for an “innovation fund”.

However, a lack of available funding within DAERA has meant the proposal has not been progressed to date.

Brian Lockhart from the NI Shows Association pointed out that in the Republic of Ireland, grant support worth between €6,000 and €11,000 is available for agricultural shows.

Lockhart, who chairs Newry Show, described the increased running costs which are required for holding public events as “enormous”.

“Our insurance has gone from £700 to £1,500 and to have an ambulance on site costs anywhere between £600 and £2,500,” he said.

Other issues include complying with legislation, particularly on health and safety requirements, and providing adequate training to volunteers.

“All those are resources which have to be financed,” Lockhart said.