Sun showers and sheep shearing on day one of the National Ploughing Championships
The National Ploughing Championships in Ireland opened with high attendance and a presidential address by Catherine Connolly. The event focused on agricultural challenges, including food import reliance and the impact of climate change on farming.
Why it matters
The event serves as a major cultural and political barometer for the Irish agricultural sector and the current administration's policy priorities.
ACROSS THE FAMED 700-acre site in Screggan, Co Offaly, 77,000 men, women and children donned their wellies and jackets to march across the National Ploughing Championships.
Today was day one of the three-day affair and the sun was out for the day, to everyone’s glee. A few light showers did little to dampen spirits – one woman seated at a bench early in the afternoon when rain sprinkled down remarked, ‘It’s only a sun shower’ – and a sizeable fraction of the Oireachtas were out in force.
Hands were shaken, photographs were taken, and politicians pressed the flesh with attendees and agricultural industry representatives.
A section of the 77,000 attendance on day one at the National Ploughing Championships 2026 in Screggan, Tullamore, County Offaly. Eamonn Farrell / RollingNews.ie Eamonn Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie
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