*Senator Timmy Dooley with An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin. Photograph: Natasha Barton
A CLARE SENTATOR has called for the 67th World Ploughing Championship to be cancelled and has labelled Russian President Vladimir Putin “a thug and unhinged dictator”.
Due to be held in Russia on August 13th and 14th, Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) has said the World Ploughing Championship cannot proceed in Russia. “I’m calling on General Secretary of the World Ploughing Organisation, Anna Marie McHugh, to ensure the World Ploughing Championship due to take place in Russia this summer moves to a more appropriate host country”.
He stated, “Given the indefensible and increasingly aggressive military invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the World Ploughing Championship due to take place there this summer must not go ahead.
“People are disgusted at the actions of Vladimir Putin, who is a thug and unhinged dictator, and the Russian Government. I have been in contact with the farming community across Ireland and they are adamant that the World Ploughing Championships cannot be associated with the aggression and terror of the Russian State,” Dooley remarked.
Meanwhile, the Mountshannon native is to hold a coffee morning this Friday morning from 10am to 12pm at the Old Ground Hotel in aid of those displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All proceeds from the bar and town hall of the Old Ground Hotel will go to Irish Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.