Message received, ploughed and clear

Elected members at Cork County Council have expressed frustration at the fact that tickets for this year’s National Ploughing Championships can only be purchased online.

As it stands, tickets for the event, which runs from 19-21 September at Ratheniska, Co. Laois cannot be purchase with cash at the gate and must be pre-booked.

Attendees must choose in advance which specific day they wish to attend the event via the National Ploughing Association’s (NPA) website npa.ie.

Speaking at Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council, Independent Cllr Frank Roche said the decision to only make tickets available online was “unfair” to people who don’t use the internet or carry bank cards.

He also pointed out that some people will not know in advance which of the 3 days they will be able to attend.

He asked that the council write to the NPA asking them to reverse the decision.

Newly appointed Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank O’Flynn supported Cllr Roche’s motion and suggested the decision may have been an effort to regulate attendance numbers over the 3 days.

“They’re talking about health and safety, they’re talking about the numbers; it’s a wide-open space – the land of Ireland that we fought for,” said the mayor.

Independent Cllr Marcia D’Alton said: “We had an age-friendly meeting in Passage on Friday and it was really interesting to hear the older people say how they struggle with automated answering services.

“It’s not even just the card issue, it’s all this online issue and the lack of a person on the other end of the phone. I think not having people to do business with is a significant issue for older people.”