Heavy rain forces cancellation of Swinford Agricultural Show

The 33rd annual Swinford Agricultural Show which was due to take place this Sunday has been cancelled after it fell victim to the unseasonal heavy rainfall.

Up to 76mm of rain has fallen in the Swinford area over the last week which has meant that the organisers of the Swinford Agricultural Show have had to take the unenviable position of cancelling this year's show in the interest of health and safety.

“It is with great regret that Swinford Agricultural Show has made the very difficult decision to cancel this year's show in the interest of health and safety as a result of the quantity of rain that has fallen since Sunday and the unfavourable forecast for the next few days. This month 177mm of rain has fallen here in Swinford, 76mm in the last seven days alone.,” the show's committee stated this morning.

“Everyone that has entries in the show to date will be contacted by the committee and full refunds will be issued.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our hard working Committee and volunteers who have done so much work for this year's show. We would also like to thank our sponsors.

Thank you for your continued support. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused,” the statement concluded.

The Swinford Agricultural Show is one of the highlights of the agricultural show calendar in Mayo with hundreds of people attending the show every year. This year's show was to take place on Heeran Farm at Kiltimagh Road, Swinford and a full programme of events was scheduled to take place over the day.