Tullamore Show: The rain which swept across the country yesterday failed to deter thousands of visitors to the Tullamore Show and AIB National Livestock Show at the Charleville estate outside the Offaly capital.
Although numbers were slightly down on previous years, the farming community showed its support for what has become the foremost livestock event in the country with its 900 classes and 40 national titles.
Conditions in some of the car parks were more reminiscent of the National Ploughing Championships than the biggest livestock show in the country, with some cars having to be towed and pushed into the car parks, However, good humour and patience prevailed, with some suggesting they were getting into training early for the ploughing.
As is usual for the show, the farm organisations were out in force to use the occasion as a platform for their messages.
The president of Macra na Feirme, Mr Thomas Honner, said farmers sometimes needed to be reminded that they were not "supermen" and they should not sacrifice safety on their farms for the sake of getting a job done quicker.
He said farmers should have their farm safety statement updated on a regular basis.
"Last year 19 lives were lost on Ireland's farmyards and this is unacceptable. The onus is on farmers to practise safe farming in order to prevent lives being lost ," he said.
Farming, he said, was a demanding and physical profession and it could often be difficult for full and part-time farmers to find casual workers to help relieve the workload.
Mr John Dillon, the Irish Farmers Association president, warned meat factories that the IFA would not allow them bring down the the price they were paying for cattle. He said prices had been cut by 20 cents a kilo or €65 a head over the past three weeks without justification.
He said that factories would have to realise that the new reality of decoupling meant there had to be viable prices for beef, over the cost of production, for farmers to remain in business.
The IFA leader said farmers must be extremely strong in their dealings with cattle agents and the factories on cattle prices. He said farmers must demand full value for their livestock and insist on payment on the day.
The chairman of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association's beef committee, Mr Robin Smith, also attacked the factories, alleging they were pulling beef prices down by €80 a head.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael was thanking the people of Leinster by being the only political party to take a stand at the show. Its newest MEP, Ms Mairéad McGuinness, was on hand with Ms Olwyn Enright TD. The party's stand was close to the sole religious stand on the site, taken by the Seventh Day Adventists.
The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Mr Tom Parlon, who was being referred to on the ground as the "Minister for internal exile", was also on site.
Making his first visit to the show as Lord Kilclooney, Mr John Taylor is a sponsor of the event through his ownership of the local newspaper, the Midland Tribune.
Mr Michael Dowling, Head of Agri Strategy of Allied Irish Banks, spoke at the official opening, which was attended by the leaders of all the farming organisations. He said he was proud to be associated with a community running the show which could only be described as "a community of excellence".
He said the event was a "showcase for quality" and had a greater role than ever in pointing the way forward for Irish livestock farming.