TWO dozen people were in attendance at last Friday’s ‘face judging’ meeting arranged by Clonakilty exhibitor Jerry Maloney, with plans made for a further meeting in January.

The meeting was held to discuss a number of issues in the showing world, including the loss of some shows from the calendar, less exhibitors and the alleged abuse of judges.

“We had a fantastic meeting, there were 24 people including exhibitors, show committee members and judges at it,” said Maloney.

“It was a wide-open meeting and everyone spoke. It was decided to set up a group called Show Enthusiasts so there will be another meeting held on January 15th when a committee will be formed.”

He said the aim of the meeting was to set up a group similar to Show Jumping Ireland’s Riders Club where competitors, judges and owners can air their problems or thoughts which can then be passed on to the relevant bodies such as the Irish Shows Assocation (ISA), Irish Pony Society (IPS) and cattle breed societies.

“We have a letter sent to the Irish Shows Association with the main points from the meeting,” said Maloney, who added that efforts to communicate with the Irish Pony Society (IPS) were so far unsuccessful.

“The IPS haven’t returned any of my calls.”