The Tullamore Agricultural Show, which was expected to attract 50,000 spectators tomorrow, has been called off because of severe weather.
It is the second year in a row that the country's biggest one-day rural event has been forced to cancel due to a heavy downpour.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen was to have opened the show, which also incorporates the national livestock competitions.
Over 500 exhibition stands had been erected on the 150-acre Charleville Estate.
Following last years cancellation a thousand metres of underfoot metal track had been installed to improve conditions for spectators.
The organisers said that conditions at the show would have been alright for pedestrians tomorrow, following todays heavy rain.
But Christy Maye, the Tullamore Show press relations officer, said there would have been difficulties in the car parks and with moving the large number of cattle and other animals involved.
