Agricultural shows are a staple of the Irish summer in rural Ireland, but with an ageing population and the exodus of younger generations from smaller farms, could this age-old tradition be under threat?

Duncan Lehane is the youngest member of Clonakilty Agricultural Show committee, which is already planning the 2027 event, less than a month after the curtain fell on the 109th show held in early June.

The 30-year-old was elected secretary when a new committee was voted in last April, which meant the run in to the 2026 show was more challenging than usual.

“I’ve been attending our show for as long as I can remember, competing and helping out for years, so I was keen to give something back and this is my first year on the committee,” he tells Irish Country Living. “We had a very busy run in that only started in April, which was shorter than usual, but with 83 members we managed to deliver another hugely successful show.

Drive the show on

“There is a lot of buy-in from the community, both the people and the businesses who also volunteer to help. Extra volunteers are drafted in on the day, to steward and man the gates, to deal with ticketing and take care of the public address system, and a million other jobs. Definitely more needs to be done to attract the younger generation, I’m the third generation of my own family to be involved with the show, so it was something I always wanted to do.”

Duncan believes a two-pronged approach is needed to attract younger committee members, but is heartened that more people are offering to help, even if it is just on show day.

“People have contacted us online to volunteer so that’s great to see, and some of them would be new to the area, so that is encouraging. You’d hope that their experience of the show will make them want to come back next year to do a little bit more.

“Older members are happy to share their learning and drive the show on, and we all know we need to keep the tradition going. That is only going to happen if we encourage and bring along the younger generation.”

In the midlands, there’s a cross-border element to the Longford County Show in that its newly installed secretary is a Roscommon native.

Marian Kelly was asked to help out earlier this year when the position of secretary became vacant and she agreed as she “knew they were stuck”.

“I’ve been coming to the Longford show for years, mainly for the dancing, and I’d be familiar with the event, but the role of secretary is all new to me. I’ve been thrown in at the deep end,” she explains.

“It was nerve-racking at the start back in January when I took on the role. It is a big commitment as there’s a lot of work involved, from organising the schedule and writing to the judges and everything in between.”

Challenges ahead

With a few more shows in its record books than Clonakilty, Longford operates with a much smaller committee, with 19 members tasked with bringing the show to life each year.

“The show is getting bigger and bigger every year, this year’s was our 122nd show, but it is hard to get young people involved,” adds Marian.

“No one wanted to do the secretary role, but now I know what’s involved I’m happy to continue doing it. I’d be a regular at the Roscommon Show too, again for the dancing and the crafts, and the cooking. A lot goes on behind the scenes to make a show happen.

“The local GAA club volunteers help with the parking and the stewarding, but I’m not sure how you get more young people involved. There are only two other committee members younger than me, so it’s definitely a challenge.

“There’s a fine balance to be struck where the older members will share their knowledge and experience with the younger generation, but I find that often younger ones don’t want to listen to older voices.

“There are still a lot of younger farmers in this region, so it’s something we should probably look at as a committee.”

Jim Harrison is the national secretary of the Irish Shows Association. He says some show committees are better than others at attracting and retaining younger members.

“Without a doubt it is becoming a challenge for a great many shows to attract younger members to their committees, but many are working very hard and are making headway in this regard,” he says.

There is a reluctance there to hand over power at committee level and one thing that I’m hearing more and more is the element of ‘well we’ve always done it this way, so that is the only way to do things

“Bringing young people straight onto a committee rarely works, however, so the way to overcome this is to ask them to help out on another aspect of the show and build up a relationship, where they see all that goes in to putting a show on.

“Then when you have one young person interested, the chances are they will bring others along with them and that’s how you introduce fresh blood and new ideas, which is what our shows need to thrive and survive.”

Jim says that attracting the younger generation is only half of the solution for shows under pressure and says the more established committee members need to be more open-minded.

“There is a reluctance there to hand over power at committee level and one thing that I’m hearing more and more is the element of ‘well we’ve always done it this way, so that is the only way to do things,’ which comes from older people,” he explains.

“When it comes to the online aspect of organising and promoting shows, younger people know what they’re at far more than the likes of me and my generation, and it galls me when I hear of committees blocking progress because they insist on sticking to the old ways.

“The ISA Super Show Platform was set up during the pandemic and this year we have 66 show committees using the computer system. We’re hoping to increase it to 80 by the end of the year, which would be two thirds of the 120 shows run each year across the country.

“It has helped massively with the administration side of things, paperwork especially, and the younger generation are far more IT literate than older people, so this is where they can really play a part.

“Before Covid, our agricultural shows were under huge threat, but with funding from the Department of Rural Community and Gaeltacht affairs providing a lifeline in recent years, I see a bright future in most parts of the country. Without this funding 40% of the shows out there wouldn’t still exist.

“We are seeing an increase in younger people attending and competing in the shows, particularly in the sheep and cattle competitions, but the same is not the case in our horse section – where the older generation are still the norm.

“I think the breed societies; the young member associations can play a critical role in bringing more young people through to committee level and we are seeing that play out in certain parts of the country.

“But the fact remains that farming is not a viable option for many young people and are lot are leaving the land to move in to other careers. Even those who go away to college, a lot don’t come back and that is a concern. But when there’s nothing for them to return to, you can’t really blame them.”

A full list of the agricultural shows taking place around the country over the coming months can be found at irishshows.org