Tullamore venue will facilitate massive public transport usage to Ploughing
IT’S a sign of the passing Summer that already early plans are being unveiled for this year’s Ploughing Championships that take place from Tuesday, September 22 to Thursday the 24th, near Tullamore in Co. Offaly.
The exact site of the Ploughing is a place called Screggan, just a few miles outside Tullamore, and off the N52 road to Nenagh, a central venue and one very convenient for West of Ireland farmers.
Over the years, the Ploughing is now rated as Europe’s largest outdoor event, with a huge logistics operation needing to be put in place to keep traffic flowing in an out of the venue.
Last year the Ploughing broke all attendance records with a crowd of 127,000 going through the gates on the second day of the event – over the three days last year, 281,000 people turned out at the Ratheniska (Laois) venue.
This year, visitors to the National Ploughing Championships will have the opportunity to get train transport from around Ireland to travel to Tullamore, where Bus Éireann will operate a shuttle service for the short (5 km) trip to the Screggan site over the days of the event.
Anna May McHugh, Managing Director of the National Ploughing Association said this service would provide a huge opportunity for visitors and exhibitors to leave the car at home and to use public transport.
“This will have the knock-on effect of visitors being dropped off much closer to the entrance gate, less traffic on the road and easier access.
“For those people who need to drive, Tullamore is so centrally located in Ireland that it is an ideal venue, easily reached from all parts of the country,” said Anna May McHugh.
For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.