Government cuts grant for agricultural shows - including Tullow - by €2,000 for this year
The initial funding was intended to be a once-off payment
The Government has cut grants for agricultural shows by €2,000 for the majority of them across the country - which includes the Tullow Agricultural Show held in August.
A Parliamentary Question by Fianna Fáil's Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, for the funding provided to agricultural and industrial shows for 2015 to 2018 and to date in 2019.
Minister Ring outlined the funding allocated to agricultural shows via the Irish Shows Association which revealed that Tullow received €7,000 in 2018 but this had been reduced to €5,000 for 2019.
He said: "In December 2017, I first announced an allocation of funding of €812,000 to the Irish Shows Association to support almost 120 agricultural shows around the country which were due to take place in 2018.
"This was intended to be a once-off payment, in recognition of the difficulties which many shows had experienced in previous years due to bad weather and increased insurance costs.
"Each show was eligible to receive up to €7,000 from the Government in an effort to support these important rural community events."
Minister Ring added: "The investment was carried out through the Irish Shows Association and the recipients were all members of that Association.
"Having seen the positive impact of the investment in the shows and having regard to the funding available within my Department, in August 2018 I announced a further allocation of €600,000 to the Irish Shows Association to support shows due to take place in 2019.
"Each show was eligible to receive up to €5,000 from this allocation.
"Funding for Agricultural shows is provided on an exceptional basis and depends on the availability of funding in my Department’s overall budget from year to year."