It is a world apart. In the grounds of the Charleville estate on Tullamore's outskirts, some 241 dogs in the Enfer World Sheepdog Trials are being put through their paces. Yet not a single dog barks.
In the country fair-like atmosphere, word slowly leaks through of the explosions in London. "It puts all this into perspective," says Dick Roper from the Cotswolds.
"We're here enjoying ourselves. Some of us treat the trials like a matter of life and death, and what happened in London puts it into a proper perspective," he says with a grimace.
Roper manages and farms a 3,000-acre estate for the Wills tobacco family and runs 700 sheep himself. He has represented England 10 times at international dog trials, is a two-time national champion and has been a finalist five times at the Supreme Internationals.
There are competitors from 21 countries, who have qualified from their own national contests. They have come from as far afield as Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, the Faroe Islands and across Europe, including Scandinavia. In addition, there is a major contingent from the "home" countries of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
There are regular demonstrations of dog obedience classes where the animals do exactly as they are told. "If only you could get children to do the same," sighed an observer.
Dick Roper has spent some of the day watching the other participants in the trials. But he and his dog Tom only get their chance at the end of the day. The competition has run in three fields with 40 competitors in each field, and 21 in all go through to the semi-finals.
He says that often with the first and last "packet" (the group of five sheep used for a trial) "you don't really know how they'll respond". The last packet "have been stuck in the pens all day" and are hungry. He's just hoping they'll be in a good mood. Tony Otteson has just completed his trial with his dog Tweed and is pleased with the performance. The aim of the trial, which lasts 15 minutes, is to get the sheep from a pen and herd them around a number of fences.
"The dog should go far enough out so as not to disturb the sheep and bring them in in a straight line, in smooth, steady movement," says Mr Otteson, a Danish farmer.