The National Ploughing Association (NPA) has expressed its frustration at being excluded from talks concerning the reopening of the trade exhibition sector.

NPA assistant managing director Anna Marie McHugh told the Irish Farmers Journal that it appears as though “rural Ireland has been left on the shelf", following an interview on RTÉ's Prime Time in which Minister of State for trade promotion Robert Troy announced he was in talks regarding an opening date for the sector.

The NPA said it has received no contact from Minister Troy and, as the National Ploughing Championships is the largest outdoor event in Europe, McHugh says the NPA would have "liked to have been considered" in the talks.

No guidance

The NPA is attempting to prepare for ploughing competition in September behind closed doors, but has yet to receive any guidelines on how to do so, other than what they have read themselves from the HSE, McHugh said.

She added that she had made efforts to contact Minister Catherine Martin regarding the taskforce set up to open the events industry.