Balmoral Show: Another successful event but further developments, including an M1 motorway offslip, could lift Balmoral to greater heights

And, yet, there is so much more that the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society could do with Balmoral Show.

Expanding the event from three to four days has worked tremendously well. Making Saturday a family day ticks every box.

But this is still scratching the surface, where the potential import of Balmoral is concerned.

Getting a spur built from the Sprucefield junction on the M1 into the nearby show grounds would encourage so many more people to attend.

And this is particularly so, where visitors from south of the border are concerned.

Farming and food remain Northern Ireland’s largest industries, employing almost 100,000 people. Both sectors need an effective shop window. Balmoral is that vehicle. And long may this continue to be the case.

Down to the business of this year’s show itself and the immense commitment required to win a Balmoral inter-breed title, with years of breeding and investment to produce that one ‘elite’ animal, was again evident.

This year saw Martin Millar and his father Cyril winning the Balmoral supreme dairy championship. It’s an achievement that cannot be understated.

The island of Ireland is now home to a selection of Europe’s top dairy cattle breeders. And many of them were at this year’s Balmoral Show, vying for top spot. To say that heartiest congratulations should be extended to the Millars is an understatement of some magnitude.

I should also add that the family has a history of breeding elite pigs over many years. So, they obviously know a good animal when they see one!

I knew that sustainability would be one of the key themes associated with Balmoral Show this year. So, by way of a gesture in the direction of ‘saving the planet’, the decision was taken to use public transport only cross the four days of the event.

The plan was a simple one: get the train from Finaghy to Lisburn and then avail of the bus shuttle service to the show grounds

And it all worked a treat. The trains were on time and shuttle buses left the back entrance of the railway station on a very regular basis.

On each of the four days, I was left at the front door of the Eikon centre within 15 minutes of the shuttle bus leaving Lisburn.

To top it all off, a Translink representative was on-hand with a hearty Balmoral welcome for everyone arriving by bus: that was a really nice touch, I thought.

I will never drive to Balmoral Show again. And I would heartily encourage other Balmoral visitors to do likewise.

The one slight fly in the ointment was the decision to terminate the shuttle service back to Lisburn at 6.20pm on the Wednesday evening. This is far too early.

I was among a group of four people, who had gathered outside the Eikon at 6.30pm on the evening in question, only to be told that the last shuttle had departed.

But all was not lost. A builder from Co Westmeath noticed our plight and gave us a lift to the station in his van. I made the journey back to Lisburn sitting on an upturned bucket: it was all great fun.