County Longford Ploughing Championships ‘a great event to bring the community together’

As forecasts threaten every variation of weather except for sun, fingers are being crossed, prayers are being said, and more than a few Child of Prague’s are being left out in the hope of divine intervention swaying the reports from grey skies to blue as Ballymahon gears up to host the 90th Longford Ploughing Championships this Sunday, March 22.

On board as the main sponsor this year is popular local company O’Haire Concert Coaches, owned by Anthony and Jospehine O’Haire.

Taking place on the Delaney family farm in Drinan for the second year running, the event is one of the most anticipated community gatherings on the calendar.

This will be the O’Haires’ first year as the main sponsor, one which owners Anthony and Josephine O’Haire are greatly looking forward to as it allows them to return a gesture of appreciation to the community that has long supported their business.

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Speaking to the Longford Leader, Josephine says they were only delighted to sponsor the Longford Ploughing Championships.

“It’s always a great day for the community because the event is very community focused, and everyone knows everyone there.

"We do a lot of local work with the bus company so we like to give back when we can. We get a lot of business from the people of Ballymahon so we wanted to show our thanks and appreciation by sponsoring the event.”

Josephine continues, “We never miss The ‘Ploughing. We have two boys, Callum and Alex, who are big into farming, so they love it as well. Anthony’s mam is a small farmer in Mayo, she has around 8 or 10 cattle and the boys would spend a lot of time down there with her. They have great interest in tractors and the farm so they enjoy the ploughing so much.”

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Anthony adds, “It’s a lovely event, and a great day out. Everyone in the community enjoys meeting up and having a chat at the Ploughing. We were involved before with the shuttle buses (to and from the event) but this is our first year being the main sponsor. "We were delighted to come on board as sponsors. Ballymahon has been very good to our business.”

When the O’Haire’s started their business back in 2008, they had one mini bus and operated under the name O’Haire’s Buses.

Eighteen years on, they have a fleet of over 30 buses and operate under the name O’Haire’s Concert Coaches.

The name change came about as recently as last year following an astute observation of a gap in the market.

As Josephine explains, “We branched out and set up a concert service last year, operating transfers to and from concerts in Dublin. We’re very busy with that. We do a lot work for young people in Ballymahon, the private hires, the schools and we realised that if they were to get a bus to a concert, they would have to travel to Longford town, Mullingar, Athlone or Roscommon, so we saw a big opening for it in Ballymahon to start the service.

“We set up two separate routes: Roscommon-Lanesboro-Ballymahon is one route and then Longford-Edgeworthstown-Mullingar is the second route. It’s really taken off so hopefully we’ll branch a little bit further next year. The people in Ballymahon are delighted with the service, that they can just park up in Ballymahon and get the bus to the concert and home safely.”

Now in its 90th year, the Longford Ploughing Championships has always attracted a big crowd. This year’s turnout is expected to be stronger than ever. Those worried about parking can rest assured there will be an O’Haire’s shuttle bus service to transport attendees to and from the Delaney farm where the ploughing will be taking place.

Says Anthony, “There will be parking provided in the town at the mart and there will be a shuttle bus service in and out all day to take people to and from the ploughing. This is the second year it’s been in Ballymahon so it’s great to have had it here two years in a row. It’s huge for the town and a great event to bring the community together.”