Sun shines on show"s success

Record numbers turned out on Sunday for this year"s Mullingar Agricultural Show, which this year celebrated its 174th year in existence.All through last week, organisers were confident that the bad weather, which led to the cancellation of last year"s show, would not return this year.Their faith was rewarded, said show PRO Paddy Donnelly, with bright sunshine and blue skies: 'We had probably the highest turnout for a show this year, with we reckon about 15,000 visitors. We have had over 300 entries in the cattle section, over 200 entries in the sheep and entries from Cork, Galway, Cavan, Meath and Monaghan. We are delighted with how many people came out and supported the show, especially following last year"s cancellation.'What made this year"s show special was that it had something to offer everyone, with a great deal of work put into the children"s area to ensure that they had a great family day out.'For visitors, the show was a spectacle, brimming with colour, activities and of course animals.Early on in the day Cossack Riders displayed their style and agility in the show arena just before the army parachute display team landed in the area, closely followed by the army helicopter.The same area was occupied with a bouncy castle, an inflatable assault course and a large inflatable slide. There were also go-carts for the children and huge tea-cups spinning wildly around in circles.Cllr Dan McCarthy, was a steward on the day of the show and spent the early part of the day greeting families up in this family friendly area.'This year"s show is such a success. We have broken so many records and we have lots of new, exciting stands,' said Cllr McCarthy.One of the most exciting and unusual stands was manned by Greg Potterton, who brought along to the show a two day old fawn and its mum. Children lined the pen to see the doe and baby deer and bought a safari hat as a souvenir of their experience.Another popular event at the show was the Mullingar Pet Hospital Dog Show, with entries still being taken on the day. Classes included 'Best Gun Dog', 'Best Toy' and 'Dog I would like to take home'.'These shows are an important part of the agricultural calendar but they have evolved over the years to become a family day out and the show committee worked especially hard to put in place entertainment that all the family could enjoy,' said Mr. Donnelly.'We also recognise that while these families may not be interested in the agricultural competitions, they are interested in farming and farm animals, so it is important to have the likes of pet farms and Agri-Aware at the show, which raise awareness of the important role that farming still plays in Ireland.'Another part of rural farming life represented at the show are in the indoor classes, which include horticulture, country crafts and home industries, amateur photography and art.One of the stewards in the interior classes was Marie Reynolds who praised the high standard of this year"s entries:'All of the entries this year were excellent and the judges had a difficult time choosing between them. It is great to see that, even after last year"s show not going ahead, that we have so many entries of such a high standard.'Local ladies Betty Gaynor, Moira O"Brien and Frances Nolan summed up visitor"s feelings when they told the Westmeath Examiner, 'It has been a great day out. Everyone wished the show well and desperately wanted them to have a good day after last year. This has been a tremendous show and it more than makes up for the show being a "no show" last year.'See page 24 of this week"s Examiner for the results of the Cattle and Sheep Classes.