Balmoral 2014
Richard Halleron reviews Northern Ireland’s prime agricultural event and the plans to expand its offering on the Maze-Long Kesh site.
By any yardstick of measurement, Balmoral Show 2014 was a resounding success. Record crowds, tremendous weather and a truly exciting mix of attractions served to generate that good feel factor with the public at large, which the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) hierarchy had been craving. But the Balmoral Park project remains in its infancy.
Many would argue that all of the hard questions regarding the future usage of the Maze-Long Kesh site have yet to be answered. And, more importantly, how will the investment needed to create the centre of agricultural excellence – the focal point of the RUAS business plan – play out against the backdrop of the society’s stretched finances?
One thing is already certain. Balmoral Show will be converted into a four-day event in the very near future. It may not happen next year, or the year after. However, the society’s Chief Executive Colin McDonald is not a fool. He now knows only too well that extending the show into the Saturday will generate a much-needed boost to the coffers at Balmoral Park. That leaves the other 361 days of the year. Be sure that Colin and his team will strain every sinew to make Balmoral Park the premier agricultural venue on the island of Ireland. The truly big catch within this list of potential events that could be hosted at Balmoral Park is the Irish National Ploughing Championships, which attracts over 200,000 visitors from all over Ireland during four days in September each year.
Significantly, the ploughing championships have no fixed abode with the result that the site chosen for the event changes from year to year. But with over 400 acres of land contained within the entire Maze-Long Kesh site plus the availability of large areas of prime agricultural land on its doorstep, there is now growing speculation that the championships’ road show could come north to Balmoral Park in the not too distant future.
To push ahead with such a venture over the next twelve months might be a step too far for the RUAS. However, it has already been confirmed that Balmoral Park will host the Northern Ireland Ploughing Championships later this autumn. This, Colin McDonald believes, is “a dry run for what could be considered, looking further down the line.”
But to make this happen will require the building of the proposed new road between Sprucefield and the Balmoral site. There is also the small matter of Belfast and Dublin harmonising a whole raft of animal health regulations.
Even if all these challenges are satisfactorily resolved, there are many core issues regarding the future viability of the Maze-Long Kesh project that lie entirely outside the influence zone of the RUAS. In essence, the Executive must commit to making it all work. If this is not the case, then Balmoral Show at the Maze could quickly find itself at death’s door, despite all the good efforts of the RUAS. It was interesting, though, that Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was keen to praise the efforts of the RUAS in moving to the Maze while visiting Balmoral 2014. So let’s see what happens over the next few months.
Reform
The differences that exist within the Executive on how best to implement the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support measures were evident at this year’s Balmoral Show, courtesy of the speeches given by Farm Minister Michelle O’Neill and First Minister Peter Robinson at the now traditional Department of Agriculture and Rural Development breakfast. The past four months have been marked by an intense debate within the farming industry on how best to ensure the new support policies, which must be agreed by 1 August this year, will best facilitate the significant growth potential for local agriculture over the next decade.
In essence, farming has been split down the middle on the issue: those who want to see the immediate introduction of a new, area-based support system and those who want to see Northern Ireland divided up into two CAP regions and the new support measures phased in over the next ten years.
For her part, Michelle O’Neill said that she would take whatever time is required to arrive at the right decision for agriculture as a whole while Peter Robinson stressed the need for a speedy decision, which will include a commitment to the longest possible transition period for the new measures. And as far as he is concerned, the magic number is ‘ten’ – years that is – in this regard.
The First Minister also made it abundantly clear agreement on the new CAP measures must be reached by the Executive as a whole. The fact that Peter Robinson made no reference to the number of CAP regions that must be introduced, choosing to emphasise instead the length of transition that will be applied to the new CAP measures, will be seen a conciliatory gesture, opening the door for formal CAP negotiations involving the Farm Minister and the Ulster Farmers’ Union post the European elections.
A key announcement made by Michelle O’Neill at the breakfast was her confirmation of the enhanced support arrangements within the new CAP deal for young farmers. She indicated that qualifying farm businesses will receive an enhanced payment, equating to €84 per hectare. This development has been warmly welcomed by Young Farmers’ Clubs President Martyn Blair who confirmed that the new measures will formally recognise the establishment of 50:50 partnerships, the route to succession which most local farm families are now following.
Deputy First Minister Martin Guinness also spoke at the breakfast. He highlighted the tremendous potential for growth that now exists within the agri-food sectors and committed the full backing of the Executive in helping to make this a reality.
