The 2024 National Ploughing Championships look like being a pre-election canvas, as political parties parade their candidates and their policies before the 200,000 people who will be attending and the national media audience who will be listening and watching.
The last time this happened was in 2019, as the Fine Gael/
independents Government, supported by Fianna Fáil under the “confidence and supply” agreement, wound towards its end-of-life.
Imminent
The difference was that we didn’t know for sure in September 2019 that an election was imminent, the Government had served less than three years, and had the option of extending its tenure out to early 2021.
That said, there was a very charged atmosphere politically at the time. Relations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil had been on the slide, and there was the possibility that the Government could fall over something seemingly innocuous (shades of 2024 and the internal disagreement over Residential Zoned Land Tax within the current coalition there).
Do you remember the 2019 Ploughing Championships? It was held in Fenagh, Co Carlow in absolutely glorious weather. Umbrellas were only needed as parasols and ice-cream outsold burgers, walking-sticks and even hurls over the three days. Oh, and it was towards the end of the farmer blockade of cattle processing plants.
The front page of the Irish Farmers Journal that week recounted how €120m worth of cattle were backlogged in the system. The Beef Plan, with its leadership under court injunction, had stepped away from formally leading the factory-gate protests, with the Independent Farmers of Ireland emerging instead.
Protests at some plants were standing down. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed had opened talks with all shades of farmer representation the previous weekend, a grouping that would evolve into the Beef Taskforce. The Restaurants Association of Ireland were warning that they would have no steaks to put on customers’ plates within a week. It was a pretty fraught time.
We can never predict the future. Nobody knew in Septemeber 2019 that there would be an election the following February, that by the time a government was formed the whole country would be in lockdown as COVID-19 swept across the planet. So it would be foolish of me to make any definitive predictions about what will dominate the political conversation in Ratheniska next week.
Significant
I think it’s fair to surmise that Budget 2025, which is just over two weeks away now, will be the last significant planned action of this Government. The consensus is that we will be voting in mid-November.
Whether the election is next month or next year, the Ploughing Championships will be the last “pre-season friendly” for our political parties, the last round of league before championship. The panels have been picked, and shiny new candidates will be kissing babies and shaking hands alongside veteran campaigners.
There has been considerable change since last year at the helm of most parties. For starters, we have a new Taoiseach, the third of this Government, as Simon Harris assumed leadership of Fine Gael and the coalition from Leo Varadkar.
He has certainly made an impact, with an as-you-were performance in the local elections and the retention of five of Fine Gael’s six MEPs as good as could be expected for a party that has been in office for 13 years now.
Fianna Fáil has the same leader as last year, indeed, the same leader since that 2011 General Election. However, Micheál Martin did appoint Michael McGrath as Ireland’s nominee for the European Commission, replacing him as Finance Minister with Jack Chambers.
Rebuilt
The Green Party has also changed leaders, with Eamon Ryan, who like Martin has rebuilt his party since that disastrous 2011 election, stepping away.
Roderic O’Gorman and Roisín Garvey are the fresh leadership team heading into what is likely to be a challenging election; small parties in Government tend to suffer electorally for any collective unpopularity.
Sinn Féin, in recovery following the disappointment of June’s elections, appointed Martin Kenny as agriculture spokesperson last month, and the Leitrim man will be a visible presence at the Ploughing.
Farm organisations
It’s all change since last year within the farm organisations too. Francie Gorman, Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and Denis Drennan Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) both face their first Ploughing as president. Seán McNamara assumes the rotating presidency of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA).
Former Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed at the National Ploughing Championships 2019, flanked by then Minister of State Andrew Doyle and NPA managing director Anna May McHugh.
Amidst all this change, Charlie McConalogue remains as Minister for Agriculture. It’s been a very busy four years since he took office. We had CAP reform through his first 18 months in office, with BISS, CRISS and eco-schemes entering the farming lexicon.
The Climate Action Bill was passed in the same summer of 2021 as CAP was agreed in Brussels, and the 25% emissions reduction sectoral target for farming followed in late-2022.
Last year saw the partial loss of the nitrates derogation, as farmers struggled to cope with the escalation in input costs brought on largely by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The high prices of 2022 meant that year saw record profits on dairy and tillage farms, despite the costs, but the fantastic weather of that year disappeared this time two years ago, on the week of the ploughing championships, and has hardly been seen since.
Let’s hope for a dry and sunny three days this year. Whatever about the weather, the atmosphere in the political parties’ stands certainly won’t be dull.
The 2024 National Ploughing Championships look like being a pre-election canvas, as political parties parade their candidates and their policies before the 200,000 people who will be attending and the national media audience who will be listening and watching.
The last time this happened was in 2019, as the Fine Gael/
independents Government, supported by Fianna Fáil under the “confidence and supply” agreement, wound towards its end-of-life.
Imminent
The difference was that we didn’t know for sure in September 2019 that an election was imminent, the Government had served less than three years, and had the option of extending its tenure out to early 2021.
That said, there was a very charged atmosphere politically at the time. Relations between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil had been on the slide, and there was the possibility that the Government could fall over something seemingly innocuous (shades of 2024 and the internal disagreement over Residential Zoned Land Tax within the current coalition there).
Do you remember the 2019 Ploughing Championships? It was held in Fenagh, Co Carlow in absolutely glorious weather. Umbrellas were only needed as parasols and ice-cream outsold burgers, walking-sticks and even hurls over the three days. Oh, and it was towards the end of the farmer blockade of cattle processing plants.
The front page of the Irish Farmers Journal that week recounted how €120m worth of cattle were backlogged in the system. The Beef Plan, with its leadership under court injunction, had stepped away from formally leading the factory-gate protests, with the Independent Farmers of Ireland emerging instead.
Protests at some plants were standing down. Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed had opened talks with all shades of farmer representation the previous weekend, a grouping that would evolve into the Beef Taskforce. The Restaurants Association of Ireland were warning that they would have no steaks to put on customers’ plates within a week. It was a pretty fraught time.
We can never predict the future. Nobody knew in Septemeber 2019 that there would be an election the following February, that by the time a government was formed the whole country would be in lockdown as COVID-19 swept across the planet. So it would be foolish of me to make any definitive predictions about what will dominate the political conversation in Ratheniska next week.
Significant
I think it’s fair to surmise that Budget 2025, which is just over two weeks away now, will be the last significant planned action of this Government. The consensus is that we will be voting in mid-November.
Whether the election is next month or next year, the Ploughing Championships will be the last “pre-season friendly” for our political parties, the last round of league before championship. The panels have been picked, and shiny new candidates will be kissing babies and shaking hands alongside veteran campaigners.
There has been considerable change since last year at the helm of most parties. For starters, we have a new Taoiseach, the third of this Government, as Simon Harris assumed leadership of Fine Gael and the coalition from Leo Varadkar.
He has certainly made an impact, with an as-you-were performance in the local elections and the retention of five of Fine Gael’s six MEPs as good as could be expected for a party that has been in office for 13 years now.
Fianna Fáil has the same leader as last year, indeed, the same leader since that 2011 General Election. However, Micheál Martin did appoint Michael McGrath as Ireland’s nominee for the European Commission, replacing him as Finance Minister with Jack Chambers.
Rebuilt
The Green Party has also changed leaders, with Eamon Ryan, who like Martin has rebuilt his party since that disastrous 2011 election, stepping away.
Roderic O’Gorman and Roisín Garvey are the fresh leadership team heading into what is likely to be a challenging election; small parties in Government tend to suffer electorally for any collective unpopularity.
Sinn Féin, in recovery following the disappointment of June’s elections, appointed Martin Kenny as agriculture spokesperson last month, and the Leitrim man will be a visible presence at the Ploughing.
Farm organisations
It’s all change since last year within the farm organisations too. Francie Gorman, Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and Denis Drennan Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) both face their first Ploughing as president. Seán McNamara assumes the rotating presidency of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA).
Former Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed at the National Ploughing Championships 2019, flanked by then Minister of State Andrew Doyle and NPA managing director Anna May McHugh.
Amidst all this change, Charlie McConalogue remains as Minister for Agriculture. It’s been a very busy four years since he took office. We had CAP reform through his first 18 months in office, with BISS, CRISS and eco-schemes entering the farming lexicon.
The Climate Action Bill was passed in the same summer of 2021 as CAP was agreed in Brussels, and the 25% emissions reduction sectoral target for farming followed in late-2022.
Last year saw the partial loss of the nitrates derogation, as farmers struggled to cope with the escalation in input costs brought on largely by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The high prices of 2022 meant that year saw record profits on dairy and tillage farms, despite the costs, but the fantastic weather of that year disappeared this time two years ago, on the week of the ploughing championships, and has hardly been seen since.
Let’s hope for a dry and sunny three days this year. Whatever about the weather, the atmosphere in the political parties’ stands certainly won’t be dull.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: