ploughing championships

Lambofdave

What would you change about the ploughing championships?

My main one:
Get rid of chuggers or put rules in place that they don't harass you on walk ways and follow you on to stands.

Conmaicne Mara

Been that long since I was at it I didn't know they had chuggers, better bring the crook with me.

Bizzum

Jaysus lads nobody hounds me. I must have the look of a pauper or ruffian off me.

Muckit

A firm 'no thank you' - side step - away!

O.A.P

Lambofdave wrote: »

What would you change about the ploughing championships?

My main one:
Get rid of chuggers or put rules in place that they don't harass you on walk ways and follow you on to stands.

It might be me but they never bother asking me a second time.
My kids dont either funny enough

pakalasa

Decent toilets.

Muckit

Rosenstock had a very funny sketch on chuggers :pac:

HairMare

Hi all anyone know if there is a camping/shower area at ploughing ? I'm assuming not, working there for the week this year & don't fancy paying 194 per nite in the heritage!!!

Sam Kade

pakalasa wrote: »

Decent toilets.

Nothing wrong with the toilets, it's the dirty fcukers that use them :mad: I honestly don't know why people have to ****e at the ploughing

Kovu

Sam Kade wrote: »

Nothing wrong with the toilets, it's the dirty fcukers that use them :mad: I honestly don't know why people have to ****e at the ploughing

Because a burger/fry will be had for breakfast. Followed by 2 pounds of handmade fudge and maybe a few pints in the tent!

Hairmare, I don't know about showers there but is there anyone who worked there last year that you can get in touch with? The toilets were always grand there to me anyways. They have those posh ones for the wimmens with wee baskets full of women stuff and deodorant and all.

bogman_bass

Bogman_bass's top[ tip: Go to nthe actual ploughing area and us the tiolets there. much less footfall there.

Also, portaloos work fine if you flush after every use so can everybody be nice and actually do that please? cheers!

freedominacup

Lambofdave wrote: »

What would you change about the ploughing championships?

Everything upto and including their actual existenece:(. I went last year for the first time in 15 years, my curiosity was well sated. If it was accross the road from me I wouldn't be back.

whelan1

its grand if you are going for 1 particular item, you can price around, but the crowds and the stupid people stopping in front of you drives me mad, brought the youngest in a buggy a few years ago, would not wish that on anyone

quader

talking to a salesman and some pr**k cuts in as if you dont exist

delaval

freedominacup wrote: »

Everything upto and including their actual existenece:(. I went last year for the first time in 15 years, my curiosity was well sated. If it was accross the road from me I wouldn't be back.

+1 a real endurance test. Will go if dry underfoot. If wellies required no way

Lambofdave

quader wrote: »

talking to a salesman and some pr**k cuts in as if you dont exist

Thats the norm.
Or the secondary school children jumping in the puddles of mud covering everyone who has had the mis fortune of being near by at the time.

nashmach

freedominacup wrote: »

Everything upto and including their actual existenece:(. I went last year for the first time in 15 years, my curiosity was well sated. If it was accross the road from me I wouldn't be back.

Probably a bit strong??

What was up with it in your view?

Sam Kade

freedominacup wrote: »

Everything upto and including their actual existenece:(. I went last year for the first time in 15 years, my curiosity was well sated. If it was accross the road from me I wouldn't be back.

I went every year over the last 8 years and last year was a total disaster compared to other years.

Sam Kade

Kovu Murr wrote: »

Because a burger/fry will be had for breakfast. Followed by 2 pounds of handmade fudge and maybe a few pints in the tent!

Which would take a day or two to expel unless they drink laxatives for afters.

whelan1

quader wrote: »

talking to a salesman and some pr**k cuts in as if you dont exist

that really pisses me off, last time it happened i just said i will buy somewhere else, good luck... fecking pricks... or even more annoying when you are after waiting your turn and an asshole jumps in in front of you because they are more important

freedominacup

nashmach wrote: »

Probably a bit strong??

What was up with it in your view?

Everything from the traffic management/location to the site to the entrance fee:eek: (I mean paying to go somewhere so that people can advertise to you) to the quality of the stands be they trade or otherwise. I came away feeling the day was a waste TBH, it was neither entertaining or commercially interesting. In fact that's probably the problem they're falling between two stools.

whelan1

dont get me started on anna may mc hughs wages... fine and dandy its a big show, i would like to compare what the head honcho at tullamore show gets and what she gets

freedominacup

whelan1 wrote: »

dont get me started on anna may mc hughs wages... fine and dandy its a big show, i would like to compare what the head honcho at tullamore show gets and what she gets

But it's her private company she's entitled to pay herself whatever she likes and whatever her business can sustain paying her, more in fact if she decides to run the business down although markII would probably have something to say about that. You might as well be getting uptight about what your local publican pays himself it's none of your business.

bbam

Three things really annoy the hell out of me...

1. Chuggers, knackers and every other paracite selling tickets, sticks, fireworks and general crap... this includes the multitude of stalls selling tat, it does nothing but take away from the purpose of the show.

2. Bus loads of teenagers - what school in their right mind allows these groups to head off and be nothing but a pure annoyance to the general public, drinking, being sick, splashing much on people for a laugh, rolling in the muck. why do bus drivers even let them back on the busses..

3. Buggies (Sorry Whelan). Can people not get anyone to mind a kid for one day. Babies and small kids being pushed round in a buggy, hitting of everyone's heels, how intimidating must it be for a small child to have thousands of strangers towering over them all day, by 1pm most of the kids seem to do nothing but cry, the buggys don't go onto most of the stands so what is the point !!

In general its an interesting day out.. You have to accept that traffic delays are a reality, Athy was good for traffic. Plan to go this year, and i agree, the entry fee is too high.

fastrac

Tullamore will do me nicely . Spoke to a ploughing competitor last year and he didnt even get an extra ticket to bring someone along.

whelan1

bbam wrote: »

Three things really annoy the hell out of me...

3. Buggies (Sorry Whelan). Can people not get anyone to mind a kid for one day. Babies and small kids being pushed round in a buggy, hitting of everyone's heels, how intimidating must it be for a small child to have thousands of strangers towering over them all day, by 1pm most of the kids seem to do nothing but cry, the buggys don't go onto most of the stands so what is the point !!

In general its an interesting day out.. You have to accept that traffic delays are a reality, Athy was good for traffic. Plan to go this year, and i agree, the entry fee is too high.

had absolutely no choice but to bring him and was a disaster from the outset only good thing was he slept the whole way home.... agree on the secondary school thing, the majority have 0 interest in the event at all

pakalasa

freedominacup wrote: »

But it's her private company she's entitled to pay herself whatever she likes and whatever her business can sustain paying her, more in fact if she decides to run the business down although markII would probably have something to say about that. You might as well be getting uptight about what your local publican pays himself it's none of your business.

It is a private company, fair enough, but the Rights to Irish Ploughing as such are not owned by her. The majority of people going there believe that it is run on a voluntary basis. At the end of the day the whole thing is marshalled by VOLUNTEERS.

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

It is a private company. Fair enough, but the Rights to Irish Ploughing as such are not owned by her.The majority of people going there beleive that it is run on a voluntary basis. At the end of the day the whole thing is marshalled by VOLUNTEERS.

It's like the special olympics. Thousands of volunteers across the country spend weeks every year doing all types of fundraisers and collections thinking that the money goes to bring the brilliant young people to sporting events. In fact, all money collected goes to head office where it is then distributed to each area after the executives get paid. Mary Davis and her 8 Regional Directors across Ireland take over €1 million between salaries and expenses before any money is given to support the young people with disabilities taking part in sporting activities.

Certainly makes me think twice about giving money to Special Olympics!!

freedominacup

pakalasa wrote: »

It is a private company, fair enough, but the Rights to Irish Ploughing as such are not owned by her. The majority of people going there believe that it is run on a voluntary basis. At the end of the day the whole thing is marshalled by VOLUNTEERS.

The majority of people need to wise up so. And the volunteers:rolleyes: "thats fine Anna May, no brushes available? you can use the shovel handle this year, no vaseline? ah that's alright hold on now until I bend over and get my cheeks spread good and wide........"

Muckit

reilig wrote: »

It's like the special olympics.
Certainly makes me think twice about giving money to Special Olympics!!

Don't b like that reilig! I agree 100% that those at the top of SO cream off a nice wage for themselves but the majority of those involved in SO are volunteers and don't get a penny.

We Have 5 here that got selected to play for connacht in next year's Ireland games and we rely heavily on donations to get them there. At €500 a pop that's a lot of money for any small club to raise. I'd hate to think that they couldn't get going because we couldn't get the money!

reilig

Muckit wrote: »

Don't b like that reilig! I agree 100% that those at the top of SO cream off a nice wage for themselves but the majority of those involved in SO are volunteers and don't get a penny.

We Have 5 here that got selected to play for connacht in next year's Ireland games and we rely heavily on donations to get them there. At €500 a pop that's a lot of money for any small club to raise. I'd hate to think that they couldn't get going because we couldn't get the money!

I am involved in it and a lot of my colleagues are involved in SO. Money will never stop a young person from travelling - it's always found around here anyway if it is needed. I doubt it has ever stopped people from travelling in your area either.

My gripe is with the director and the regional people who portray that they are volunteers just like Anna May. Yet they get huge salaries, travel first class and rely on people like us to keep them funded just because we care about the young people that we work with and will do what we have to do to make sure that they get on in life. It's extortion!

F.D

Get rid of every stall not farming related !!!!!!!!
you would get around in 3 hours and might actually get out to see some eeerrrrmmm oh yea PLOUGHING
thats not a 2 mile walk away

leoch

YEA AGREE WITH FD TAKE OUT ALL THE BUILDING OR HOUSEHOLD OR ENERGY SH1TY STANDS ALL THE ONES WITH NOTHING TO DO WITH FARMING AND U MIGHT HAVE NOT MANY ELSE LEFT ,,,THE MACHINERY STANDS GET LESS AND SMALLER EACH YEAR AND EACH MANUFACTURER NEVER SENDS A FLEET OF STUFF FROM HQ IN ENGLAND ONE TRYING TO OUTDO THE OTHER LIKE THEY USED TO ,NOW AND ODD LOCAL DEALER WILL SET UP A STAND WITH ONLY A FEW MAIN MANUFACTURERS REPRESENTED AND GONE ARE THE DAYS OF THE WORKING MACHINERY DISPLAYS ASWELL

Manoffeeling

bbam wrote: »

Three things really annoy the hell out of me...

1. Chuggers, knackers and every other paracite selling tickets, sticks, fireworks and general crap... this includes the multitude of stalls selling tat, it does nothing but take away from the purpose of the show.

2. Bus loads of teenagers - what school in their right mind allows these groups to head off and be nothing but a pure annoyance to the general public, drinking, being sick, splashing much on people for a laugh, rolling in the muck. why do bus drivers even let them back on the busses..

3. Buggies (Sorry Whelan). Can people not get anyone to mind a kid for one day. Babies and small kids being pushed round in a buggy, hitting of everyone's heels, how intimidating must it be for a small child to have thousands of strangers towering over them all day, by 1pm most of the kids seem to do nothing but cry, the buggys don't go onto most of the stands so what is the point !!

In general its an interesting day out.. You have to accept that traffic delays are a reality, Athy was good for traffic. Plan to go this year, and i agree, the entry fee is too high.

I'll be bringing my son who has DS and he will be in a buggy. Any issues with that, just say it to my face.

I agree with you on the teenager thing. A boot in the hole is required.

moy83

Its the people pushing the buggies that can be troublsome , my wife being one of the worst ! Someone is going to deck her before shes finished with it . She will drive it straight through anyone or thing . There was a lad leading a heifer in front of us in tullamore and I thought she was going to sneak it out between the front and back legs !

ABlur

fastrac wrote: »

Tullamore will do me nicely . Spoke to a ploughing competitor last year and he didnt even get an extra ticket to bring someone along.

+1 on Tullamore, no traffic delays no buses of schoolchildren, not much tat and lots of machines and tractors which you can sit in!

whelan1

how much is it in? and how much was it in to tullamore does any of the entrance money go to charity- apart from the npa charity;)

pakalasa

Is Tullamore a better show now for cattle?

bbam

Manoffeeling wrote: »

I'll be bringing my son who has DS and he will be in a buggy. Any issues with that, just say it to my face.

I agree with you on the teenager thing. A boot in the hole is required.

Each to their own.
But IMHO it's no place for children in buggies.

Same goes when I see people walking toddlers through a mart, or recently I say a toddler leaning out the back window of a tractor going along the road.
There are places that young kids just don't belong.
The farming community as a whole have a poor record in knowing where young children belong and shouldn't be. This is borne out in the level of injuries and child deaths on farms.

I know I'm just a crank but I worked on two farms where children were killed, one where a 14 year old lost his arm and one where a 3 year old was missing for 4 hours and found playing under machinery in a store.

Anyway, this is way off topic for this thread.

nashmach

A lot of bitter taste about Wexford then:rolleyes:

In fairness, the weather the first day screwed it up royally.

If it had been on the preceeding week, things would have been much better.

It only started raining at 6pm on the Monday evening

bbam's post sums it up well and it is a pity that more people don't go to look at the art itself rather than the commercial aspects alone.

freedominacup

nashmach wrote: »

A lot of bitter taste about Wexford then:rolleyes:

In fairness, the weather the first day screwed it up royally.

If it had been on the preceeding week, things would have been much better.

It only started raining at 6pm on the Monday evening

bbam's post sums it up well and it is a pity that more people don't go to look at the art itself rather than the commercial aspects alone.

It had nothing to do with Wexford for me. We went into Passage from the Tramore side and had to wait for 2 crossings including the one that was pulling out as we arrived. Getting close to the site was easy enough but the last couple of miles were brutal. There have been worse places for access.

jfh

anyone know what the accessability to Ratheniska is like?
coming from the limerick side, is it far from the m7?

Lambofdave

You always know the money is good when a daughter(son) is lined up to take over.

bbam

Lambofdave wrote: »

You always know the money is good when a daughter(son) is lined up to take over.

Like on most Irish farms :eek::eek: :P:P

Kovu

bbam wrote: »

Like on most Irish farms :eek::eek: :P:P

Exactly what I was about to say! My own 2 cents on the whole topic is about 5 pages long so I won't go into it.
But if a national show for ploughing is being organised by a person who has never done it......:rolleyes:

Mulumpy

Havent been in a few years hoping to go this year. I think its a case of u either enjoy it or ya dont. It takes fair putting together. Anna McHugh is no different to any of our government ministers who have everyone else doing the donkey work. I say fair play to her she has great dedication.

bob charles

was there in 06 I think last time and in no rush back, on saying that I go to no shows anyway or dont go to anything ag related really

maidhc

Was there last year for the first time in a while. Not going back.

A small corner of it is devoted to machinery and farm related stuff these days. Lots of sh1te better suited to a car boot sale and don't get me started on the teenagers and people drinking for the day (not that I am opposed to drinking, but a time and a place!)

Suckler

Kovu Murr wrote: »

But if a national show for ploughing is being organised by a person who has never done it......:rolleyes:

Not really relevant - Two different tasks & mentalitys required.
Dr. James Reilly might have been a good doctor but doesn't make him a good man in charge of the entire department. Michael O'Leary doesn't fly an airplane but can run the airline etc.

I usually go each year. I like to see the new inventions/developments and get ideas etc. There are some areas of farming I am not in any way involved in and the ploughing allows for a quick overview of these areas.
I do liek to see some of the new business start-ups but I feel sorry for some of them being stuck in the smaller tents and stalls along with the junk sellers. I don't like the way the machinery manufacturers have scaled back on their stands. I've no doubt it's to do with what many of you have said here - kids clambering around them and pestering them for posters. The FTMTA machinery show tends to have a better selection of vendors and displays.

I can never fathom why schools send bus loads of kids down, They are a nightmare around the place, purely there for a day off. The whole funfair arena bit needs to be scrapped. They also used to do better demonstrations up to a few years ago.

leg wax

i have 1 gripe with the ploughing,all the stands are there are suppose to be trying to sell everthing,its no diff than done deal,will you put up your fooking prices saves you and me time,if i cant afford it i wont waste your time asking you how much,how much.when you go into a clothes shop you dont have to keep asking the assistant how much.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

bbam

leg wax wrote: »

i have 1 gripe with the ploughing,all the stands are there are suppose to be trying to sell everthing,its no diff than done deal,will you put up your fooking prices saves you and me time,if i cant afford it i wont waste your time asking you how much,how much.when you go into a clothes shop you dont have to keep asking the assitant how much.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Agree completly.
It would draw you in as a genuine punter if you see a bargain.

We've got some ideas there.
Camera phone and a measuring tape in pocket. Head home and out with the grinder and welder.