This article is from page 34 of the 2008-05-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 34 JPG
IT’S that time of the year again. No sooner has May had a chance to get settled in when talk in Ennistymon turns to the North West Clare Agri- HUNTED Dine) sCedyvA
One of Ireland’s earliest agricultur- al shows, the North West Clare Show has proved popular for competitors wishing to establish themselves as the people to beat this festival sea- rene
“We have more All-Ireland quali- fiers this year than we have ever had before. The total at the moment is 19 All-Ireland qualifiers at the show,
which is a great draw for competi- tors,” said Maurice Harvey of the Show Committee.
“Some qualifiers are more impor- tant than others – the qualifiers in the horse section are very highly sought after and have to be fought over. We have qualifiers in all the sections this year; in the horses, the Connemara ponies even the donkey section.
“The qualifiers are held to draw people here from all over the coun- try. This is one of the early shows, so people like to come here and estab- lish their credentials early on.”
The show will take place at the Falls Hotel and the Ennistymon Vo-
cational School on May 31 and June iF
“The children’s sections is proving to be very popular this year. All the schools in the north Clare area will be represented in one section or an- other,’ said show secretary Josephine Blackwell.
“There is the arts and crafts, the painting, drawing, photography – they have all grown in popularity in the last few years. This year we have a special cookery competition espe- cially for all the north Clare second- ary schools.
“There will also be a Clare home baking competition this year and we
have a few All-Ireland qualifiers in these sections. There is a lot there for children, it’s really is a family friendly day out with something for everyone.
“We really couldn’t put the show on if it wasn’t for the help of out spon- sors. It’s still only €5 to enter the events which is really very low com- pared to most shows. We try hard to keep the entry fee as low as we pos- sible can to try and attract as many people as we can.”
The closing date for entries is Thursday, May 22. To enter, or to find out more details, contact Jose- phine at 065 7071121.