Over two days, around 1,400 sheep have been sheared at the Clonmany Agricultural Show in Co Donegal, with 1,000 of those sheared today.
On average 120 sheep were sheared in eight minutes. Joanne Devanney from Sligo sheared five of them in seven minutes flat. Her brother Karol took just a few seconds longer.
The brother and sister from Drumcliff in Co Sligo were pitted against each other in a heat of the prestigious All Ireland and All Nations Shearing and Wool Handling Championships, hosted for the first time in Clonmany.
They work together every day in the shed on their farm, but it is a bit of fun to be up against each other in competition, Karol said.
This is a serious sport though and it is all about getting through to the next round.
Joanne explains that you are up against the clock, shearing as many sheep as you can in five minutes, but you have to do it cleanly.
There are judges watching your every move and if there is a nick on the animal, for example, then you are penalised.
This particular competition has been dubbed by some as the 'Olympics of sheep shearing', so the preparations for competitors are intense.
Most of it is the day-in day-out work of sheering for themselves or for other farmers, according to Karol, who has travelled to New Zealand, Australia, Norway and some European countries to shear.
Ivan Scott, who holds numerous records, says gym work is another preparation shearers might undertake.
The Donegal man holds the Irish ewe record - he sheared 820 ewes in nine hours. He also has a previous world record of 867 lambs in nine hours.
The sheep shearing competitions were streamed live across the world from Clonmany, which hosted the shearers from across Ireland and countries like England, Scotland, Wales and New Zealand.
It is now in its 54th year, having grown from a simple sheepdog trial to a festival with something to interest everyone.
Just a few years ago, in 2019, they introduced lamb shearing and last year, according to PRO of the show, Blaine McCarron, they were asked to host the All Nations.
It was a massive undertaking, he said, but they were delighted to take it on. A huge effort was put into making it a success and now Mr McCarron says, they would not rule out hosting the World Championships.
They have everything that is needed, he says, the land, the sheep, the infrastructure, the committee and, now, the experience of hosting a major event.
In fact, they are no strangers to hosting big international events in this part of Inishowen - the site where the agricultural show is held is right next to Ballyliffin golf course, which hosted the Irish Open Golf Championships in 2018.
Around 10,000 people attended the first day of the show yesterday, thousands more were there today and apart from the sheep shearing, they enjoyed Irish dancing, cookery demonstrations, fashion shows and craft exhibitions.
Mr McCarron says their goal in Clonmany is that everyone has a fun-filled, value-for-money family day out and goes home with a smile on their faces.
