The Carnew Agricultural Show, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, published a post on its Facebook page on Tuesday night saying that it is "with deep regret and sadness" that the committee of Carnew and District Agricultural Show inform the people of Carnew and surrounding areas that the 2016 Agricultural Show will not go ahead as planned on 16 July.

The committee cited "financial constraints and a decline in volunteers" as the reasons the show had to be cancelled.

However, they have not given up entirely as the committee intends to hold a public meeting later in the year to allow the community to make suggestions and get involved in organising the 2017 show.

These shows are part of the local heritage and tradition of the area. Locals look forward to them every year

Comments

The post elicited a reaction from locals, with 51 people expressing shock or sadness at the post and another 15 leaving comments. One woman, Karen O'Driscoll, said it was "a pity, as I always enjoyed the pony games. Hope you will have in 2017".

Helen D Eathe said it was "always a great day out", while Anne Bannon suggested a crowd-funding campaign to help with the financial constraints.

"Sorry to hear, country shows are really struggling to survive now. Maybe you should launch a crowd funding campaign," she said.

Shows under huge pressure

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Pat Corbett, chairman of the Irish Shows Association, said agricultural shows, even some of the big ones, are "under huge pressure" at the moment.

"I can understand where they're coming from," he said. "It's very hard to keep them going. I've even heard of shows having to fundraise all year round."

On the volunteer side Corbett said he understands that people "want to get paid" for their work.

"But these shows are part of the local heritage and tradition of the area. Locals look forward to them every year. It would be a pity for one to go under because of people taking it for granted and not getting involved."

It would be a great pity for it to go by the wayside

Footfall is everything when it comes to these shows, and this of course is often dependent on the a number of factors, not least the Irish weather. The Carnew Show held a hunt race qualifier for the RDS horse show in 2015, something which saw the number of visitors rise to around a couple of hundred throughout the day. But that was an exception to the rule.

Even with free entry for children and entry at €5 for an adult, a high number of visitors to the show is not guaranteed.

Corbett is hopeful the committee will be able to organise something with the community and the show will be "up and running" next year.

"It would be a great pity for it to go by the wayside," he said.

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