Ploughing a long furrow back to Laois

Thousand of Clare people will be travelling a familiar road next September. While a trip to Croke Park is always a possibility, already pencilled in is the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, County Laois.

Such has been the success of the event, the organisers announced on this Monday that it will return to the venue for a third time from September 22– 24 next year.

Total attendance figures for the 2014 championship came to a record breaking 279,500.

Speaking at a prize-giving ceremony in Portlaoise, NPA managing director, Anna May McHugh said, “Feedback from landowners, the local community and the wider public has been very positive and all were incredibly enthusiastic to see a return.”