There are final details that need to be signed off before the National Ploughing Association (NPA) can announce where next year’s event is to take place, Anna Marie McHugh of the NPA has said.
Speaking to the press on Thursday evening amid reports that next year’s event was definitely heading to Carlow, McHugh said there are specifics that need to be cleared before a location can be confirmed.
On Thursday, Carlow TD Pat Deering told KCLR that it was his understanding that it was going to Carlow. However, McHugh has put his comments to bed.
“In relation to next year, there are actually specifics that we need to get over the line before we can ‘yes, it’s going to a particular area’. There’s particular elements on next year’s site that we need to sign off on and we don’t have them as yet.
Political parties
“Fine Gael or any other political party will have no involvement anyway in that process and there’s no TD that would be in a position to make that announcement on our behalf.
“We’re looking at a number of sites for next year … right now we’ve been looking at sites in Carlow, Kildare, Laois, Tipperary, Kilkenny and then Offaly on the broader spectrum of a little bit further out.
“All those venues are serious contenders at the moment for hosting the future Ploughing Championships,” she said.