Organisers of the Clonmany Agricultural Show are set to bid to be the hosts of the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing & Woolhandling Championships in 2029.
The major event attracts 50 international teams and around 10,000 visitors per day, with television coverage broadcast worldwide.
To host the event would be a great opportunity for Donegal and for Inishowen to be showcased, according to local County Councillor Martin McDermott.
Cllr McDermott this week received assurance from Donegal County Council that it would be happy to issue a letter of support to the Clonmany Agricultural Show to strengthen their bid to become the 2029 hosts.
World Sheep Shearing Championships take place every three years and will be held in New Zealand in 2026. After that, it will return to Europe and has been proposed to either go to Wales or Ireland.
Cllr McDermott said that Clonmany and Inishowen is “in a good place” to deliver the event, given the success of the Irish Open in Ballyliffin in 2018.
“To get the event will be a fight,” Cllr McDermott admitted.
“I think we are in a good place to deliver this project because we have delivered the Irish Open. The council have been at the forefront of that, in relation to traffic management in particular. We have a template there we can use,” he said.
The competition would take place on the August Bank Holiday weekend and would coincide with the Clonmany Festival and the Agricultural Show which takes place annually.
Cllr McDermott’s motion was well received by the council. A response from Garry Martin, Director of Economic Development said that the council has already met with organisers of the Clonmany Agricultural Show to discuss the bid and has also contacted Fáilte Ireland, requesting support for the initiative due to its potential to promote Inishowen and County Donegal to a wide audience.
