Seven agricultural shows across Donegal get funding injection

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Donegal TD, Charlie McConalogue, today confirmed the announcement of funding to seven agricultural shows in County Donegal.

In total, €700,000 is being provided to support the return of the shows over the coming months nationally.

The Donegal shows to get funding include Meenacross, Finn Valley, Inishowen, Glencolmcille Gleann Cholmcille, Ardara, Clonmany and Ballyshannon.

Commenting on the announcement, Minister McConalogue said “Our agricultural shows are part and parcel of summer life in Donegal and it is fantastic that they are back in our calendars again this year. They are great community events celebrating food, farming, music, rare breeds, our pets and all that is great about rural life. I encourage everyone to visit your local show this summer.”

 Each show will attract funding in the region of €5,000 – €6,000, with funding based on vouched expenditure.

 The Agricultural Shows support programme is funded under Project Ireland 2040 as part of “Our Rural Future”. This is the whole-of-government policy for rural Ireland for the period 2021-2025. It represents a new milestone in the approach to rural development policy for Ireland and adopts a more strategic, ambitious and holistic approach to investing in and maximising opportunities for rural areas

The Department of Rural and Community Development funding is administered by the Irish Shows Association (ISA). The ISA is the official recognised body representing Irish Agricultural Shows on the island of Ireland. It has more than 130 affiliated agricultural shows (10 based in the North), which run throughout the summer and into the autumn each year. A full listing of participating Shows is published online.

The list of shows to benefit from c.€5,000 – €6,000 are detailed below (Table 1- By Date and Table 2 By County)

Table 1: BY DATE

Table 2: By County