We should be at the Ploughing this week. Yet another casualty of the year 2020. My first Ploughing was in Ferns in 1998. I forgot my wellingtons and my RTÉ colleague Brenda Donohoe decided to tell the nation via the Gerry Ryan Show that I had gone to the Ploughing, it was raining and I had no wellies. I never forgot them after that.

The last time the Ploughing was cancelled in full was 2001. It was the year of foot and mouth. And I remember the press conference to announce the cancellation. It was held in Abbeyleix. And on the way home I switched on the radio to hear Irish Times columnist Conor O’Clery tell Joe Duffy on Liveline that a plane had just crashed into one of the Twin Towers.

It’s a celebration of the end of the harvest. It is an opportunity for farmers to catch their breath after a hard summer The day the Ploughing was officially cancelled in 2001 was on 11 September. Needless to say none of Anna May McHughs interviews saw the light of day after that.

People often ask what is it that makes the Ploughing so monumental? It’s a celebration of the end of the harvest. It is an opportunity for farmers to catch their breath after a hard summer. I was surprised to hear one farmer lament the loss of the Ploughing this year. “The three days at the ploughing are my annual holidays.” I am sure he is not the only one who looks forward to this week every year. And for those that attend you know that there are some people that you meet once a year at the Ploughing. You don’t meet them anywhere else for the following 12 months.

It is quite extraordinary too that despite the fact that the event moves around every few years to different parts of the country, it feels like you have been going to the exact same venue year on year. There was one year that I couldn’t find my car and another year I had to be towed out of a soggy field. We curse and we complain because it is full on. But for the ordinary farmers who look forward to sauntering around, it is another big miss for them this year.

In a good year, farmers have only to worry about prices, weather and tending to sick animals or reaping a decent harvest

It’s easy for me living in a big city to keep myself occupied even in lockdown. But for many farmers particularly those who live alone, this year must be so trying. In a good year, farmers have only to worry about prices, weather and tending to sick animals or reaping a decent harvest. And they do so mostly alone, isolated. The relief comes in the form of going to the pub, going to church, going to a match, visiting neighbours, receiving visits from neighbours or going to a meeting.

All of those outlets have been restricted this year and to put the tin hat on it, the Ploughing has been cancelled also.

It was quite poignant to be on what should have been a busy site

I was in Fenagh last week to film a piece for RTÉ. It was quite poignant to be on what should have been a busy site. It was just a big bare field with a sole combine harvesting corn. It was an image that really sums up 2020. It will be a good sign we are out the other side if we are at the Ploughing in 2021.

Don’t worry

Our daughter Deirbhile is going to study agriculture in UCD. She is lucky and I’m well aware of the upset of others that didn’t get what they wanted. Her daddy had a mediocre Leaving Cert and yet interviewed Nelson Mandela. Her mammy had a mediocre Leaving Cert and yet became the world’s number-one ranked marathon runner. Neither of us attended university. So will you tell your upset leaving cert children or grandchildren, it’s not the be all and end all.