Between 15,000 and 20,000 spectators descended on Mountbellew Mart in Co Galway to attend last weekend’s Kepak All-Ireland and All-nations sheep-shearing and wool handling championships. The largest crowd was recorded on Sunday, with favourable weather attracting families from near and far, while the nighttime MartBeat music events held on the grounds of the mart also attracted a strong attendance.The shearing competitions did not disappoint, with a number of exhilarating finals going down to the wire. Welsh shearers Richard Jones and Gethin Lewis dashed the hopes of Irish shearers, holding off a strong field, including Ivan Scott, Jack Robinson, Denis O’Sullivan and Graeme Davidson, to claim first and second position.