An estimated 80,000 people attended the second day of the National Ploughing Championships in Tullamore, Co Offaly,where dry weather continued to improve underfoot conditions.
While there were traffic disruptions as far away as Athlone and Portlaoise, the Garda traffic plan worked more smoothly yesterday, with delays kept to a minimum by the provision of extra car-parking space.
An early visitor yesterday was Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who had travelled south for the launching of Sinn Féin's new policy on rural regeneration, "Equality for Rural Ireland".
The document was presented by Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture Michelle Gildernew and the party's Dáil agriculture spokesman, Martin Ferris, who emphasised the need for a sustainable rural community, north and south.
Ms Gildernew said that the needs of rural communities throughout the island were an absolute priority and that was why the party had picked agriculture as one of its ministries. Rural Ireland needed a "new deal" and people who lived and worked there had a right to equal treatment in infrastructure, services and information.
Mr Ferris said that rural regeneration and balanced regional development had to be made a priority and an all-Ireland rural White Paper should be commissioned immediately. He described as a "scandal" the closure of the Carlow and Mallow sugar factories, which had been built on the input of farmers over the years. Now Greencore was making a fortune out of their closure. He called for the retention of the two factories as bio-fuel production plants.
He also said that the Government should try to stem the shift towards large-scale factory-style farming, which should be on a GM-free basis.
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture with responsibility for forestry, Mary Wallace, paid a brief visit to the site before being summoned back to the Dáil for the vote of confidence in the Taoiseach.
She said that her visit was intended to encourage farmers to see forestry as a realistic land use option. She also announced the appointment of Michael Lynn as chairman of the Council for Forest Research and Development, a state agency under the aegis of her department.