The National Sheep Breeders Association (NSBA) championships are now just over two weeks away. Thousands of sheep are expected in Cillin Hill, Kilkenny, on 9 June for what is predicted to be the sheep event of the year. The show plays host to five national sheep breed finals, and this week the list of who will be standing in the middle of the ring to adjudicate each breed has been released.

Texel

In excess of 180 Texels are expected to be exhibited in the biggest showing event of Texels this year to compete for the title of supreme Texel champion 2018.

Ten classes will be judged, along with the Texel junior handler class by Henry Gamble of Springwell Texels in Northern Ireland. Henry runs a highly recognised flock of both elite pedigree and commercial Texel sheep on his enterprise in Bangor, Co Down.

The Springwell flock was originally founded by Henry’s late father Robert in 1977. The flock had some of the first Texel sheep in Northern Ireland and Robert formed the foundation of the Northern Ireland Texel Club.

Throughout the years, the Springwell Flock has received many accolades and enjoyed tremendous success in both the show and sale rings, most notably having bred rams to £38,000.

Henry is a former chair of the British Texel Sheep Society and is currently the vice-chair of the Northern Ireland Texel Club.

Suffolk

Iain Barbour of the Solowaybank flock is the judge of 80 Suffolks that have been entered across seven classes. Iain runs the very successful Solowaybank flock in partnership with his sister Judith.

He hails from Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, in Scotland. Within the breed the flock is recognised as one of the leading producers, selling to a top of 26,000gns at Stirling in 2017 for Solowaybank Rock Solid.

The flock has exported stock throughout Europe for many years, with great success being obtained by their new owners at various national shows in recent years.

Belclare

An expected entry of 60 Belclare sheep are set to be exhibited in front of chosen judge Liam Conway. Hailing from Co Galway, Liam is one of the most accomplished pedigree breeders in the country.

He established his June pedigree Charollais flock in 1992 which became one of the largest pedigree flocks in Ireland, before his flock dispersal last October. Liam is held in high esteem among pedigree circles both as a breeder and as a judge.

Charollais

This year’s all-Ireland Charollais championship will be judged by Myfyr Evans of the renowned Rhaeadr flock from Wales.

Myfyr runs pedigree flocks consisting of Charollais, Texel and Suffolk, so judging capability across the classes shouldn’t be an issue. Numbers are expected to reach that of previous years, with 100 competing for the supreme champion title.

Zwartbles Eire

Fifty exhibits from the recently formed Zwartbles Eire Co-Op Society are expected to be presented before judge Andrew Duncan.

Andrew has been a Charollais breeder for many years and the society is delighted to have a man of his calibre judge their very first national championships.

While there are five national championships taking place, a further five breeds also have classes, as well as an extensive commercial section.

The other breeds include Beltex, Wicklow Cheviot, Vendéen, Jacobs and Blue Texel.