Kildare Growers Show set to return in 2011

Kildare chairman Brendan Guilfoyle, of Amour Nurseries, said: "This year we decided to take a year out and review the show itself. Now we are putting the pieces together for next year's show, which will take place in mid-July. There's a demand for an event of its nature - people still need to promote themselves."

Bord Bia development executive Gary Graham added: "It is business as normal for us. We're in the business of enterprise, export and expansion." He said he hoped Bord Bia budget cuts would be small.

Its Bloom consumer garden show is on 2-6 June. Graham said there would be challenges getting gardens sponsored but that was the same for everyone except the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. He confirmed that all other programmes would go ahead and reported that this season had declined after a good start because consumers did not spend in summer and autumn, while bad weather hit this winter.

On the economic crisis, which has led to Ireland seeking an emergency bail-out package from the EU estimated at EUR85bn, Guilfoyle said growers had already suffered a two-year recession: "It's very difficult to know what the long-term effect will be because we have been going through a period of sustained recession for the past two years.

"We need to wait and see the budget (7 December), but at the moment people are scared about spending money because of the uncertainty of jobs in the future."

Irish Recovery Plan
- Minimum wage cut to EUR7.65 per hour.
- 24,750 public sector jobs to be axed.
- VAT to rise from 21 to 23 per cent by 2014.
- EUR10bn Government spending cuts and EUR5bn tax rises.
- EUR3bn cut in public investment.