The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, last week announced a once-off allocation of funding to support almost 120 agricultural shows around the country which are due to take place in 2018.

Each show is due to receive up to €7,000.

Minister Ring said: “I know that many shows have struggled in recent years as a result of adverse weather and increased costs. These shows have been a mainstay of the local summer and their absence has been keenly felt. I hope that this once-off funding will help prevent that situation recurring next year and will help these shows to get back on a sound footing.

“These shows contribute significantly to the local economies of towns and villages and their hinterlands across Ireland. I’m delighted, therefore, to be able to assist them in this way for 2018.”

Columbcille Gipsy sold for €700,000

The six-year-old Irish Sport Horse world champion Columbcille Gipsy sold for €700,000 at the PSI Auction in Germany on Sunday last.

The mare by Toulan, who was bred by Eamonn Murphy in Co Kilkenny and ridden to gold medal glory at the World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken last September by co-owner Ger O’Neill. With O’Neill, Columbcille Gipsy also won the lucrative Irish Breeders Classic final in Barnadown the same month.

Columbcille Gipsy was sold to the Houston family in Germany, where she will continue her jumping career.

Two other show jumping horses were knocked down for the same top price of €700,000 at the auction, while the top overall price was €850,000 for a four-year-old dressage stallion, Zum Gluck.Forty seven horses were sold at the auction, for a total sum of €14.6 million.

Irish riders receive FEI Badges of Honour

At the prestigious Irish Show Jumping Awards Gala last Saturday, 14 Irish riders were awarded prestigious ‘FEI Badges of Honour’ in recognition of their performances for Ireland on the international stage.

Depending on the number of appearances, Gold, Silver and Bronze Badges of Honour are awarded by the FEI, to riders who have competed in a Nations Cup, Olympic Games and the World Championships. The full list of riders who received a badge of honour can be viewed online at farmersjournal.ie.

The late Paul Darragh, James Kernan, Eddie Macken and Captain Con Power, the three-in-a-row Aga Khan winners from 1977-79 were inducted into the Hall of Fame.