The National Ploughing Association (NPA) “will act in the best interest of the country if and when the time comes that a decision has to be made about Ploughing 2020” assistant managing director of the NPA Anna Marie McHugh has told the Irish Farmers Journal.

On Tuesday, the Government announced that events requiring licences in excess of 5,000 people “will not be considered” up to the end of August.

McHugh said the NPA is “closely monitoring and following Government guidelines” with regard to the current COVID-19 pandemic as public health and safety is the NPA’s foremost priority.

“The trade exhibition online booking system is now open, but the NPA is offering a full refund on all bookings in the event that Ploughing 2020 will have to be postponed.

“We will act in the best interest of the country if and when the time comes that a decision has to be made about Ploughing 2020.”

Making plans

Until that time, the NPA will continue making plans for the event in as far as is possible adhering to Government guidelines.

“We will work with exhibitors to ensure we can give their business the best support we can in these very difficult times.

“Approximately one third of the club/county qualifying ploughing matches for this year’s National Ploughing Championships had to be postponed due to the crises and these will be rescheduled for a later date,” she said.

Other shows

Last week, the Irish Shows Association (ISA) recommended that all shows be cancelled until the safety of their members and the general public can be ensured and restrictions on social distancing are lifted.

ISA secretary Jim Harrison said no one could have anticipated the situation with COVID-19 and the repercussions this would have for society as a whole.

“We have been closely monitoring the situation as it unfolded over the last weeks and have been liaising with the various Government agencies for advice, which has been relayed to our members regularly,” he said.

It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the postponed Grass and Muck event.

It is unclear at this stage if the government in Northern Ireland will make a similar call on events and shows. Earlier this year, the organisers of the Balmoral Show announced that this year’s show would be postponed to Wednesday 19 to Saturday 22 August.

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