Staff and volunteers at the National Ploughing Championship worked through the night to drain flooding for the final day of festivities in Co Offaly.
A major clean-up operation took place overnight in preparation for day three, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar due to visit the site in the coming hours.
Heavy rain on Wednesday caused disruption to exhibitors and organisers, but the National Ploughing Association said its staff, along with FRS workers and volunteers, worked through the night to restore the site.
“Draining works continued through the night to get the site ready for visitors for today. While some exhibitors had to downsize their stands or leave after Wednesday’s wash-out, most are staying put and looking forward to our final day,” a spokeswoman told The Irish Times.
Tractors and slurry tankers remain in place on site today where some patchy flooding remains. 87,000 people passed through the gates on Wednesday, down from a record 112,500 on day one.
Assistant MD of the National Ploughing Association Anna Marie McHugh told Midlands 103 of the hard work that went in overnight to get the site back to normal.
“We had a number of volunteers who worked through the night to restore the sight. They were going up and down the aisles sweeping and putting down more bark. The guys from the tracking company were moving panels on the ground to other places around the site.
“Nobody went home; they said ‘Look we are going to be here until the end’.”
Weather conditions are looking up for the day with the sun shining over the site in Screggan. Met Éireann is forecasting a sunny day, with only a risk of “occasional showers” late in the afternoon. It’s expected it will be cool, with a maximum temperature of 14°C and moderate winds.
The electricity has also been restored to a number of rows and exhibitors stands.
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is due on site in the coming hour, with EU Commissioner Phil Hogan also on site.