BERRINGS MACRA - Macra na Feirme

MACRA MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 VOLUME 13 WINTER 2013
BERRINGS MACRA
FBD Young
Farmer of
the Year
Page 10
celebrates
AIB Club of the Year winners – p16
Racing for
Macra
Page 6
AGRICULTURE | COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT | PERFORMING ARTS | PUBLIC SPEAKING | SPORTS | TRAVEL
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Rally 2013...................... 4
Racing for Macra...............6
Know Your Neighbour .........7
-EMBERBENElTS
FBD Young Farmer............10
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#OMPETITIONS
&ESTIVALSEVENTS
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NDC .............................25
0ENSIONSADVICE
-ACRAINFOCUS
M is published twice a year
and is a joint venture between
Macra na Feirme and the
Agricultural Trust, publishers of
the Irish Farmers Journal and
The Irish Field.
Editor:
Aoife Helly
Sub-editors:
Regina Horan
:OÚA$OMARACKA
Design:
Garrett Allen
Imaging:
Owen McGauley
Advertising:
Fiona Brien
01-4199557
087-7726164
[email protected]
Printing:
Johnswood Press
[email protected]
The publishers accept no
responsibility for the veracity
of claims made by contributors
and advertisers. While every
CAREISTAKENTOENSURE
accuracy of information
contained in M Magazine,
we do not accept
responsibility for any
errors or matters arising
from same.
L
et me begin by sincerely thanking each and every one
of you who bought and sold tickets for the ‘Racing for
Macra’ fundraising initiative. Clubs the length and
breadth of the country will benefit directly and indirectly as
a result of the hard work put into making the four events
across Ireland a success.
The past six months since I was elected president have
been filled with many meetings and events. The finalisation
of the implementation of the CAP in Ireland has involved
huge commitment and lobbying from Macra members and
staff alike. At this stage of the year, we’ve gone through club
and county officer training, the Ploughing Championships,
our annual conference/rally and our night at the dogs.
Our Land Mobility Service, in partnership with the FBD
Trust, is up and running since 1 November and is attracting a lot of enquiries and media attention. This worthwhile
initiative will help shape the future of Irish agriculture
by promoting and developing collaborative arrangements
between farmers.
As we approach Christmas, the competitions and general
Macra calendar is filling up and we look forward to 2014
which is a special year for us as it will be the seventieth
anniversary of the founding of our great organisation. Pat
Cullinan, who turned 100 years of age in early November,
attended an intimate lunch in the Irish Farm Centre along
with his wife Peggy recently and it was great to see them
both in such excellent form. Pat’s younger brother Stephen,
who died in 1951 at the age of 32, was the first secretary of
Macra na Feirme and the founder and first editor of the Irish
Farmers Journal.
Nowadays, our members embrace all the latest cutting
edge technology in their business and personal lives and,
thus, the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit of our forefathers continues to develop in new and imaginative ways.
Have a fantastic Christmas and enjoy your Macra year.
— Kieran O’Dowd
Macra na Feirme
National President,
2013-2015
© Macra na Feirme
Winter 2013 | m | 3
m
Carlow Rally
welcomes
biggest crowd
in years
T
he Macra annual conference
(Rally) took place over the October
bank holiday weekend at the Mount
Wolseley Hotel, Tullow, hosted by Carlow
Macra. Thousands attended over the
three days, including many local young
people and numbers surpassed previous
years at approximately 3,500.
Carlow Macra, with the support of
Dawn Meats and Ulster Bank, had organised a busy schedule of entertainment
and activities for delegates and visitors
alike, including Mr & Mrs Macra Rally,
the final weigh-in for Macra’s Feirme
Bodies (see page 22), live music and farm
walks. The annual conference played
host to a number of national finals of our
competitions, as well as the annual young
farmers’ conference.
The conference took place on the
Saturday with high calibre speakers, including Mairead McGuinness, MEP; Mike Brady,
president of the ACA
and Alan Renwick,
UCD. The theme of
the conference was
‘New CAP, New Era’.
Berrings Macra from
4|
m | Winter 2013
Muskerry, Co Cork took home the 2013
title of AIB Club of the Year from the
Macra annual conference (see page 16).
They received a cheque for €1,500, while
the two runner-up clubs — Glanmire
Macra, Seandun, Co Cork and Treble
R Macra club, Dublin — each received
a cheque for €500. Sinead Guiney, from
Freemount Macra Club in Avondhu,
Cork, was awarded the AIB Best New
Macra Member award. Estuary Macra,
Limerick, was named the AIB Best
Emerging Club.
Stockjudging
The All-Ireland finals of Macra na
Feirme’s Bord Bia Beef and Sheep Stockjudging competitions also took place at
the conference in Tullow Mart. Prizes
were awarded in three separate categories: senior beef stockjudging, under-23
beef stockjudging and senior sheep stockjudging. Michael Doughlas from Ashford
Macra, Co Wicklow, won first prize for
sheep stockjudging. Noel McSweeney,
Tarleton Macra, Muskerry, Co Cork won
the senior beef stockjudging.
Top prize in the under-23 category of
beef stockjudging went to John McSweeney, also from Tarelton Macra,
Muskerry, Co Cork.
In the All-Ireland final of the Irish
Farmers Journal Know Your Ag quiz,
the team from Callan Macra, Co
Kilkenny took home the top title.
After the quiz final, the good and the
great of Macra took the dancefloor in
their finest fancy dress, as you can see
from the photos! The annual conference was an overwhelming success with
positive feedback on all aspects of the
weekend. Congratulations to all involved,
including the rally committee.
BELOW: Minister Simon Coveney addresses
members at the opening ceremony. In the
background are, Kieran O’Dowd, Gerry Lavin,
Mount Wolseley, Paul Nolan, Dawn Meats
and Ailish Byrne, Ulster Bank.
Berrings Macra gets the good news
that it is the AIB Club of the Year.
Speakers at the Annual Young Farmers’ conference in
Carlow with Kieran O’Dowd, Macra national president; Eric
Driver, chairman of the organising committee; MEP Mairead
McGuinness; Sean Coughlan, Macra chairman of agricultural
affairs committee; Prof Alan Renwick, UCD; and Mike Brady,
president of the Agricultural Consultants Association.
.IALL.ICHOLSONADDRESSESTHECROWDFROMTHEmOORATTHE
opening of the Macra na Feirme annual conference in the
Mount Wolseley Hotel, Tullow.
Crossmahon-Bandon Macra and Kilmeen Macra at the fancy dress party.
Thomas McCormick, Dunmanway, Laura O’Donovan and Ellen O’Shea, UCC Macra
and Adrian Chambers, Dunmanway, at the fancy dress party.
Sara Ledingham and Gwen Hickey, Clashmore, west Waterford, at the fancy dress party.
Winter 2013 | m | 5
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AHEEN
KNOW
YOUR
NEIGHBOUR
weekend
Macra na Feirme,
the Irish Farmers
Journal and Irish Co
Living hosted a co
untry
ffee morning for Kn
ow Your Neighbour
Weekend for all ou
r neighbours in the
Irish Farm Centre.
Pictured are Justin
McCarthy, Irish Fa
rmers Journal edito
Mairead Lavery, ed
r,
itor of Irish Country
Living and Macra
ag and rural affair
s manager, Derrie
Dillon.
3PRINTTOTHElNISHWITH
joint winners Aodh
Twomey and Shane
Corkery at Aghinagh
-ACRASRACEEVENT
#LAIRE,EWISAND!OIFE3CANLONSETTINGUP%NlELDS
stall for their coffee and tea morning after mass for
Know Your Neighbour Weekend.
There was lots of family fun to be had at Manister Hall for
#ROOM-ACRASEVENT4HEWINNERSOFTHE#ROOM-ACRACOLOUR
ing competition — Ciara Browne, Terri Byrnes, Sinead Browne
and Maeve Browne — all from Manister, are pictured with
Croom Macra chairperson Anna Holland.
uiting
ity 2013) recr
(Mr Personal
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nd.
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Your Neighbo
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Kn
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fo
Sports Day
North Louth Macra
held a pier jump an
d swim in aid of Cr
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UR.EIGHBOUR7EEK
ENDEVENT
cakes, everysun and the
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BARBECUEAT,ARKINS0UB'ARRYKENNEDY
for Know Your Neighbour Weekend.
sed a coffee
South Mayo Macra organi
h Cairde Crann
wit
n
atio
oci
ass
in
morning
el.
Hot
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Mór, at the Valkenbur
Winter 2013 | m | 7
m
Joining Macra
puts you on the
path to success
How local soccer nights
lead to Switzerland
N
ow aged 32, 10 years after initially
joining Macra, Damien reflects
here on everything Macra allowed
him to do since. His big interest before
joining Macra was sport and he was a
member of his local GAA club. However,
he has expanded his interests beyond
sport since he caught the Macra bug!
‡Leadership: To name but a few —
held club officer roles including club chair
and treasurer since joining Macra. He is
Club PRO and Sports and Social officer
and is a gold leadership award recipient.
‡Sport: Has taken part in the GAA
and indoor soccer competitions, winning
national titles. He was instrumental in introducing tag rugby to the Meath county
programme of events.
‡ Travel: As far as Madrid and Belgium with his club and was also selected
a member of the Macra na Feirme European Rally team that visited Switzerland
in 2007.
‡Performing arts: Worked backstage
at Macra Capers and participated in the
national talent competition. Highlight
was being a member of a drama team
that came second in the national finals.
‡Community involvement: He is
the Macra representative for a number
of local festivals in Meath, including the
Moynalty Steam Trashing Festival. He
also organised three different fundraisers
for the Special Olympics in association
with Macra which raised a grand total of
over €13,000. They included a race night,
monster draw and a Macra variety show
involving participants from five counties.
‡Agriculture: Well informed, through
Macra, of the issues facing young farmers, which is useful living on the home
farm. He has participated in the Farm
Skills, Know Your Ag and Stockjudging
competitions.
Damien served his time as a HGV
mechanic, a business which suffered
with the downturn in the construction
industry. He also completed the Green
Cert after qualifying in HGV Mechanics.
He is now in the Jobsbridge programme
working in Macra’s national office. He is
developing his skills in technology, event
organising and office procedure. This position in Macra has him in direct contact
with the young farmer discussion groups.
He has organised many activities for the
groups and taken part in them also.
— Damien Govern,
Meath Macra member
Sports, travel, training...but what else do you get with Macra?
For 2013/2014, we’ve made membership of Macra even better with a range
of discounts that will save you a fortune.
We’ve also got a snazzy new member-
Marie Patricia McEvoy
14/05/1984
Treble R
445582
31 October 2014
8|
m | Winter 2013
ship card that will make you the envy of
non-members!
!FÚLIATEDMEMBERSCANAVAILOFTHEFOLlowing new discounts:
pOFFcar insurance
for young drivers with FBD
Insurance.
p_TICKETSIN Omniplex
cinemas on the second Tuesday of every month.
pBus Éireann: student discount rate
for all members.
p FBD Insurance:_VOUCHER
pSmart phone package with O2:
_PERMONTHINCLUDINGALLCALLS
texts and 1GB of data, the same package
WITHNODATAIS_ANDMOBILE-"
BROADBANDIS_PERMONTH
Find out more about members discounts on macra.ie
I have
taken
up the 02
offer; happy
with it so far
The
Bus
Eireann offer is
much cheaper
than the regular price
I often
use the
Bus Éireann
offer. The
discount is
brilliant
— Patrick
— Aisling
— Vicky
I use
the
FBD voucher
every year. It’s
a great deal
— Ollie
Life
after
AG
COLLEGE
Finding my voice
Colette, a 25-year-old nurse, joined Macra in 2011. After
four years of an active college life, she was now at
home in Offaly without that support structure. She was
brought along to a local Macra pool tournament and
it was at this event Colette was introduced to Macra.
Surprised by the friendliness and welcome that she got
she decided to join.
In her short time in Macra, Colette has held club and
county and Queen of the Land committee positions,
been involved in numerous charity events, including
the ‘Desperate Farmwives’ calendar and has become
hugely involved in the local community. She has also
developed an interest in sport from stepping outside
her comfort zone and taking part in the Macra volleyball
competition. Colette feels that Macra has had a huge
effect on her life, from developing friendships to being
given a platform to grow, develop confidence and ‘find
your voice’.
— Colette Cleary,
Offaly Macra member
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Life after ag
college includes
Macra.
Padraig Beattie was a student in
Mountbellew. As a result,
he got involved in his local South
Roscommon Macra Club. He is
now 20 and has since participated in the bowling, football and
young farmer of the year competitions. He loves getting out to
meet people and has picked up
new skills along the way.
Diarmaid Fitzgerald is 20
and was a student in PallaskenRY(EDIDNmTlÚNDTHELEADERSHIP
module great’ but since sees
THEBENEÚTSOFBEINGINVOLVEDIN
Macra. He likes the opportunity
to get out and meet new people.
Diarmaid represented Clare
in the U23 Stockjudging at the
Rally.
Brian Murphy was a horticulture student in the Botanic Gardens. He is now 21 and joined
Macra when his local club was
in its infancy as a new club. He
HASHELDVARIOUSOFÚCERSHIPSAND
leadership positions, such as
club chairperson and secretary.
He pointed out to us that he only
learned in college Macra was
not just for farmers. He found the
leadership module worthwhile.
Brian is heavily involved in his local community in Bohernabreena
and found that he has developed
the leadership skills he gained in
college. He participated in indoor
soccer, debating, a club charity
fundraiser and went on one of
the travel trips. He was also
an Irish Macra delegate to the
International CEJA conference in
March 2013.
Joe Brennan also attended
the Botanic Gardens and joined
Dublin Mountains Macra Club.
He also found worthwhile benEÚTSINTHELEADERSHIPSKILLSHE
developed during the module,
praising how interactive it is,
learning and doing different skills
during the year.
Winter 2013 | m | 9
m
Cork farmer wins
FBD Young Farmer
of the Year award
A
young dairy farmer from
Bantry, Co Cork, has
won the top award at the
FBD Young Farmer of the Year.
Following a challenging interview process 27-year-old John
Buckley was announced as the
winner by Edmond Harty, the
Ernst&Young Entrepreneur
of the Year 2012 and CEO and
technical director of Dairymaster.
Mr Harty acted as chair of
the final adjudication panel and
announced the winner at an
awards ceremony in the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Limerick,
in September. John has won
a specially commissioned art
piece by Irish artist John Duffy
and a travel bursary worth
€3,000. Substantial prizes were
also awarded to second place
winner Esther Walsh from Lismore, Co Waterford, and third
place winner, Peter Farrell,
Kilmessan, Co Meath.
Colm Stenson from Carrickon-Shannon, Co Leitrim,
received the Special Prize for
Community Involvement from
Pat Smith, IFA chief executive,
while Thomas Hassett from
Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny, was
presented with the Award for
Innovation in Farming by Edmond Connolly, chief executive
of Macra na Feirme.
Overall, twenty three contestants from all over Ireland
took part in the 15th FBD
Young Farmer of the Year
competition.
The competition, run by Macra na Feirme in conjunction
with the IFA, aims to recognise
excellence in the agricultural
industry and promote farming as a career with a bright
future.
10 |
m | Winter 2013
The 2013 winner of Macra’s FBD Young Farmer of the Year John Buckley, Bantry, Carbery, Co Cork, with his
wife Marguerite whom he met in Macra six years ago, Conor Gouldson, awards sponsor FBD Insurance,
Kieran O’Dowd, Macra national president, and John Bryan, IFA president.
At Macra’s FBD Young Farmer of the Year awards the top six young farmers in the country battled it out for
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Investment-led Installation
Aid scheme the way forward
M
acra na Feirme has urged Minister Simon Coveney to recognise
the importance of reintroducing an investment-led Installation Aid
package in the CAP Rural Development
Programme. Macra national president
Kieran O’Dowd said that there is explicit
provision made for Installation Aid across
Europe. The inclusion of certain objective
criteria, such as agricultural education
and a business plan, will help ensure that
the money is spent on what it is intended
for and invested wisely.
Installation Aid encourages the early
transfer of farms and assists young farmers in offsetting set-up costs and initial
investments. The two case studies below
give a summary of the likely costs to
a young farmer and his /her family in
2013/14 to become installed as a young
farmer and invest in growth and productivity.
Without an ‘investment-led Installation
Aid’ package, there is little incentive to
transfer the farm in a timely manner.
Investment and the expected associated increase in farm profit is required
for the following:
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The cost of installing a young farmer
CASE
STUDY
Assumptions
Farm size: 32 hectares (79 acres) – the average
farm size in Ireland.
Farm type: Dairy farm milking 50 cows.
Existing Single Farm Payment:_4HE
Dairy farm
national average.
!VERAGEFARMPROÚT €37,500, based upon €750
per cow, before drawings, tax and capital repayments.
Value of farm: €800,000.
Plan for farm for next three years: Expand cow numbers to
70 cows, breeding own replacements.
Grassland: 10 hectares requiring
reseeding.
Buildings and equipment:
€2,500 per additional cow.
3UCCESSORQUALIÚESFOR#!4
agricultural relief and Stamp Duty
Relief.
1
Conveyencing
costs
Legal fees of successor: (typically 0.75% to 1% of asset
value — assume lower cost): €6,000
Costs associated with conveyancing – estimate: €1,200
VAT on legal fees at 23%: €1,380
Legal fees of parents – as above: €6,000
VAT on legal fees at 23%: €1,380
SUBTOTAL: €15,960
Farm improvement costs
Reseeding 10 hectares at €865/ha: €8,650
Buildings and equipment upgrade @ €2,500 per additional
cow: €50,000
Less TAMS grant at 40% on equipment spend of €20,000:
(€8,000)
SUBTOTAL: €50,650
Total of costs: €64,610
Estimated value of 25% SFP top-up (Option 3 32ha x €62):
€1,984 per annum
!DDITIONALPROÚTEXPECTEDAFTERTHREEYEARS_
CASE
STUDY
Assumptions
Farm size: 64 hectares (158 acres) –
double the average farm size in Ireland.
Farm type: Beef farm with 50 suckler
cows, purchasing an additional 50
Beef farm
calves, bringing all progeny to beef.
Existing Single Farm Payment: €20,000.
Double the national average.
!VERAGEFARMPROÚT €25,045 before drawings, tax and
capital repayments.
Value of farm: €1,264,000.
Plan for farm for next three years: Expand cow numbers
to 70 cows, breeding own replacements and purchase 70
additional calves reared to beef.
4ARGETFARMPROÚT €48,397 before drawings, tax and
capital repayments.
Grassland: 25 hectares requiring reseeding.
Buildings and equipment: €1,500/LU for additional 40
,53UCCESSORQUALIÚESFOR#!4AGRICULTURALRELIEFAND
Stamp Duty Relief.
2
Conveyencing costs
Legal fees of successor: (typically 0.75-1.0% of asset
value- assume lower cost): €9,480
Costs associated with conveyancing – estimate:
€1,200
VAT on legal fees at 23%: €2,180
Legal fees of parents – as above: €9,480
VAT on legal fees at 23%: €2,180
SUBTOTAL: €24,520
Farm improvement costs
Reseeding 25 hectares at €865/ha: €21,625
Buildings and equipment upgrade at €1,500 per additional LU: €60,000
.O4!-3FORCATTLEENTERPRISES
SUBTOTAL: €81,625
Total of costs: €106,145
Estimated value of 25%
SFP top-up (option 3 —
64ha x €62): €3,968 per annum
!DDITIONALPROÚTEXPECTEDAFTER
three years: €23,352
Winter 2013 | m | 11
m
From the
PLOUGHING
Macra in
Ratheniska
M
acra had another successful
year at the National Ploughing
Championships held this year
in Ratheniska, Co Laois. Visitors to the
Macra stand included President Michael
D. Higgins, Ministers Coveney and Hayes
and the Taoiseach, as well as thousands
of passersby over the three days.
Kieran O’Dowd, national president,
said: “We had a great time meeting
potential new members and discussing
young farmer’s issues. The FBD Young
Farmer of the Year, John Buckley, and
runner up, Esther Walsh, were on the
stand to talk to young farmers, while
Macra’s Feirme bodies clocked up some
Moves for Macra on their exercise bike.”
Hanging out with President Higgins and
his wife, Sabina.
Macra na Feirme launched a positive
mental health guidebook for the LGBT
community alongside GLEN (see page
21) and raised awareness of changes
to drivers licenses in relation to pulling
trailers.
Laois Macra were on the stand talking
to local people about becoming members.
We also took the opportunity to launch
our Racing for Macra fundraising night at
the dogs (see page 6).
We were proud to announce that Jerry
O'Driscoll from Ballinascarthy Macra,
Carbery, Cork, won the Macra Ploughing
Class at the event. He is pictured being
presented with the Macra Perpetual
Trophy, NPA Trophy and Gold Medal for
winning the Macra 2 Furrow Conventional Class by James Sutton, NPA chairman,
and PJ Lynam, NPA vice-chairman at the
NPA awards in the Portlaoise Heritage
Hotel in October.
Ploughing class winner Jerry O’Driscoll
with James Sutton, NPA chairman and
PJ Lynam, NPA vice-chairman.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister of State Tom Hayes
stopped to talk to Kieran O'Dowd.
12 |
m | Winter 2013
Gemma Goulding made sure to get her photo
with our ‘Licensed to Pull’ jeep and trailer.
Miss Macra, Gemma Goulding, pictured with
the Minister for Agriculture, Simon Coveney,
Kieran O'Dowd, Edmond Connolly and Eric
Driver.
4HE-ACRA0LOUGHING#LASSlNALISTSBEFORETHECOMPETITIONKICKEDOFF
Prizewinners take to the skies
O
n 11 October, 30 national prizewinners packed their bags and travelled east to sample the delights
of Budapest led by the dashing Eamon
Cassells and charming Ronan Feighery.
Their first challenge was a crash
course in how to read Hungarian as they
navigated the metro system. With the
alternative of sleeping on the streets for
the night, fluency was quickly achieved
and they arrived at their hotel for the
night.
After a long day of travelling, stomachs
were rumbling so they set off to sample
the local delicacies (did you know that an
Hungarian ‘Big Mac’ tastes exactly like
an Irish ‘Big Mac’?). They then set out to
sample the local night life.
After that eventful night, everybody
woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the
bus tour of the city where they saw such
sights as the palace, the fisherman’s
citadel and the mighty Danube. With the
tour over, they split up to take in the city
at their own pace.
That night, they met again to sample
some real Hungarian food, this time being serenaded by a truly amazing violin
and accordion player.
The 2013 prizewinners’ trip gang.
As for the rest of the night: well, let’s
just say they enjoyed a snifter of brandy
and retired to bed early. They most
definitely didn’t stay out until 6am in a
dodgy basement bar, called the ‘Old Man
Bar’, with the Berrings girls dancing with
a 60-year-old Capt Jack Sparrow. Nope!
Ethiopian trip a running success
“On 22 November, a group organised
by Vita set off on a trip of a lifetime to
Ethiopia. I, a member of Knockraha
Macra, was lucky to be a part of the
trip thanks to the generous Joe Rea
Bursary. The Joe Rea bursary fund was
established by the family of the late Joe
Rea, Richard Rea Agri Ltd, Agricultural
Consultants and the Farm Apprenticeship Board.
“The trip included various activities including taking part in the Great
Ethiopian Run alongside 37,000 other
participants — a 10km race around
the hills of Addis Ababa, at an altitude
of 2,300m. Moving out from the city of
Addis Ababa, we travelled south to the
City of Arbra Minch which was used
as a base to visit the Potato Centre of
Excellence project, a Pottery Co-op and
Weaving Co-op developed by Vita.
“On the last day of the trip, we met
over 30 members of the Gendo Gembela Young Growth Association and
witnessed how they learned from the
previous trip by Macra members Joe
and Teresa. They have established a
group of young people meeting once a
week and have elected a chairperson
and secretary, as well as having a bank
account.
“It mirrors the early days of Macra
na Feirme where young people came
together with the aim of making a better
future for themselves and for others.
The experience and knowledge which
Macra has gained over its past 69 years
is invaluable and is something that can
be utilised to help and progress another
group of young people in a different
country which faces many of the similar
issues faced by the early years of Macra
na Feirme.”
— Michelle O’Callaghan
LEFT: Aisling Hussey, Irish Farmers Journal, Derrie Dillon, Macra na Feirme, Haile
Gebrselassie, Olympic gold medalist
Ethopian runner, Eoin Lowry, Irish Farmers Journal and Michelle O’Callaghan,
Macra na Feirme.
Never happened!
Those brave enough to rise the next
day enjoyed the local baths or went on
a river cruise, or sampled Eastern Europe’s largest shopping centre.
Another Macra prizewinners’ trip
done!
SPRING SEMINAR
‘Coaching for inclusion’
The Spring Seminar 2013 was held at
the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg, France from 26 May to 2 June,
as a joint study session between Rural
Youth Europe and the Youth Express
Network. Forty participants from 23
countries came together to explore
what social inclusion means and how
we can use coaching to help young
people.
Aoife Lanigan, from Kilkenny City,
represented Macra at this seminar.
Aoife had received this opportunity
after winning a Gold Leadership Award
FORHERWORKASACOUNTYOFÚCERIN+ILKenny Macra in 2012. Aoife said: “This
week was a fantastic and unforgettable
experience. It was great meeting the
other 39 people from different parts of
Europe and learning from their different
experiences dealing with the youth in
their organisations.
‘‘Thank you to everyone, the prep
team, the participants, the Council of
Europe for this great week and, especially, Macra for giving me this opportunity to avail of this great experience.
‘‘I would advise anyone who gets an
opportunity to travel through Macra,
even if it is on your own, which I did to
Strasbourg, to take it with open arms.’’
Winter 2013 | m | 13
m
m
Noticeboard
Carrigaline Macra
launches New
Year’s Eve ball
C
th national
ar’s Eve Ball wi
Ye
w
Ne
its
es
ra launch
lan, Stephen
Carrigaline Mac
left: Rona Cogh
om
Fr
.
wd
n, Patrick
Do
an O’
, Niamh O’Flyn
president Kier
Kieran O’Dowd
n,
so
ol
ch
Ni
l
Clifford, Nial
Eilís Ahern.
O’Sullivan and
arrigaline Macra na Feirme is getting ready to ring
in the New Year at the Carrigaline Court Hotel.
National president, Kieran O’Dowd, launched the
event recently with the committee, which is now in its third
year. The annual event has gone from strength to strength,
selling out both years. The evening will commence at 7pm
with a sparkling Prosecco and strawberries, or fruit punch
drinks reception. This will be followed by a delicious five
course meal, a complimentary glass of bubbly at midnight
to toast the New Year and finger food at 1am. There will
be cocktails and a late bar to help everyone enjoy five
piece band Blue Fusion and a DJ. This is an unbeatable
offer with tickets for only €30. It is sure to be a great night
and a terrific opportunity to ring in the New Year with all
your friends. Be sure to book your tickets fast. For more
information, contact Niall Nicholson on 087-7529027, Ollie
Cronin on 086-8974388, or check out www.carrigaline
macra.com or www.facebook.com/CarrigalineNYE
4HE)DLERSlRSTEVENT
T
he newly formed Macra club The Idlers,
from south Tipperary, had their first fundraising event on 12 October. They held a Fr
Ted table quiz in the Idler bar, Knockane. There
was also a raffle with spot prizes. The event was a
huge success and many new members joined on
the night.
Freemount Macra’s Barn Dance as part of its Summer Festival.
Freemount Mid-Summer Festival
A
truly unforgettable weekend was had in Freemount from 26
to 28 July 2013, when Freemount Macra, in conjunction with
the Community Development Association and the aid of IRD
Duhallow and the LEADER Programme, held their Mid-Summer
Festival. Around €5,000 was raised for the Community Development Association.
14
14 ||
m || Summer
2013
Winter 2013
The Idlers get off to
a good start.
Best Raft
goes to
Cappoquin
C
appoquin Macra took part
in the annual South Tipp
Raft Race held in Golden, in
conjunction with the Miss Macra
Festival, over the August bank holiday weekend. Their Minion inspired
craft, with added sound effects,
proved very popular with all in attendance and deservedly won the
overall prize for the best raft. The
club were delighted to win the award
after all their hard work and took full
responsibility for everybody having
‘bee-do bee-do’ ringing in their ears
for days after.
Best Raft winners
were Cappoquin Ma
cra: Donall McGrath
Helen O’Donovan
, Georgina Barry,
and Eamonn Begle
y.
Ardcath UBET success
A
rdcath’s annual UBET has proven to be a great
success and this year was no different, attracting
Macra members from Meath, Louth and Dublin.
Members who attended bet on various novelty games
that were performed by volunteers on the night. This
novelty fundraiser has proven to be a great recruitment
tool in Ardcath and with the clubs in Meath Macra.
Clonakilty Macra
celebrates 65 years
I
n October 1948, a winter meeting
was held in the local technical
school. Kevin Bellew B.Agr.Sc,
organising secretary of the national
organisation Macra na Feirme, attended the meeting. From this meeting, the Clonakilty branch of Macra
na Feirme was established.
To celebrate and remember the
old times, past and present members and to create new memories,
Clonakilty Macra invited all of the
community and their own members
to their celebration evening. It was
held on 18 October in the Ahamilla
GAA complex in Clonakilty. The
evening was full of entertainment,
stories and laughter.
Clonakilty Macra were joined by the local community to celebrate.
Summer
Winter2013
2013|| m || 15
15
m
Top Macra club hails from Cork
M
ore than a thousand rural young
people watched as Berrings
Macra from Muskerry, Co Cork,
were honoured as the AIB Club of the
Year. At the same event Sinead Guiney
of Freemount Macra, Avondhu, Co Cork,
was awarded the title of AIB Best New
Macra Member. Estuary Macra, Co Limerick, were awarded AIB Best Emerging
Macra Club.
The Macra All-Ireland club final, with
the highest attendance of spectators of
any Macra competition, was among the
highlights of the Macra annual conference in Mount Wolseley hotel, Tullow, Co
Carlow, in October.
To mark their achievement, Berrings
Macra club received a cheque for €1,500,
while the two runner-up clubs – Treble R
Macra club, Dublin, and Glanmire Macra
club, Seandun, Co Cork – each received a
cheque for €500.
The AIB Club of the Year competition
recognises excellence in Macra clubs
throughout the country. Clubs are assessed on the planning and execution of
their development strategy, involvement
in the club's local community and the
level of participation of club members in
a variety of activities at club, county and
national level, in all of the organisation's
programme areas.
Berrings Macra came out as the top
club, after club officers underwent a
stringent interview process with a panel
of adjudicators and produced a multimedia presentation.
Berrings Macra, Muskerry, Co.
Cork were presented with the
winners cheque at the All-IreLANDlNALSOF-ACRAS!)"#LUB
OFTHE9EARATTHE#ARLOWRALLY
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Feighery, Macra National
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Macra National President.
Meet the AIB Best Emerging Club – Estuary Macra
E
stuary Macra arrived onto the
Limerick Macra scene in August
2012. Proposed by their now
chairperson John O’Brien, it wasn’t long
before he had many members recruited
with one of the first being none other
than the FBD Young Farmer of the Year
2012, Dermot O’Connor.
As they were off to a winning start,
they commenced their year with a very
successful table quiz. This was shortly
followed by another win by one of their
youngest members Patrick Scanlon,
who placed runner up in the All-Ireland
final of the Bord Bia Beef stock judging competition, bringing yet another
trophy home to Estuary. They mingled
and familiarised themselves with other
clubs at the club officer training in the
Radisson Hotel, Limerick - certainly a
great welcome to Macra na Feirme.
16 |
m | Winter 2013
The competitions kept them invloved
as their lads represented Limerick in
the All Ireland NDC soccer finals and
Michael Moran represented Limerick
in the Griffin Engineering welding
finals. Kieran Scanlon followed on by
talking his way to the semi-finals of the
impromptu public speaking.
The fun didn’t stop there as they were
in the midst of organising two of their
biggest fundraising events – a vintage
and modern vehicle run to raise funds
for Aid Cancer Treatment and a modern
barn dance in aid of Pieta house. They
were overwhelmed by the success of
both events, raising a total of €22,861.45.
This would not have happened without
the support of the local community and
fellow Macra clubs.
One of their youngest and newest
members, Tim Scanlon, progressed on
to the final six for FBD Young Farmer
of the Year 2013. He wasn’t the only
farmer keeping busy, as our chairman
and his troops set off to the FBD Farm
Skills competition at the Charleville
show, doing their club proud. Michael
Fitzgerald gained them another title as
he progressed to the All-Ireland final of
the IDB Dairy Stock Judging.
In August they celebrated their one
year anniversary. Standing 35 members
strong with a haul of seven county titles,
they marked the occasion with achievements, awards, a BBQ and music. They
even managed to gain a further 13 new
members for the upcoming Macra year.
They are absolutely delighted to have
won the title of AIB Best Emerging Club
of the year 2013. They want to thank all
their members and other clubs for their
great support.
COMPETITIONS
amore Show. First
FBD Farmskills Final 2013, Tull
, Co Cork. From left:
place: Midelton Macra, Imokilly
Kathleen Leonard,
ey;
Cas
n
Joh
James O’Callaghan;
and Kieran O’Dowd,
FBD Tullamore; Paul Savage
t.
Macra national presiden
TU
LOF-ACRASIMPROMP
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Tony Cotter, fabric
ation instructor fro
m Solas, James
Healy, Macra Muns
ter vice president,
James Casey,
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UTH3LIGO-ACRA0A
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HELDINTHE
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,
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winners, Treb
Winners of the Irish Farmers Journal
Know Your Ag quiz were
Callan Macra, Co Kilkenny: Patrick
Phelan, Kevin Croke, PJ
O’Keeffe and Jim Power with Minister
for Agriculture, Simon
Coveney, Macra national president
Kieran O’Dowd and Pat
O’Toole, Irish Farmers Journal.
The winners of Macra’s All-Ireland NDC bowling competition are Callan Macra from Co Killkenny. Front:
Brid Costello, Grace Brophy and Aoife Power. Back:
Brendan Phelan, James Keogh and William Hughes
with Macra national president Kieran O’Dowd.
At Macra’s IDB senior All-Ireland dairy stockjudging
lNALIS*OHN/"RIEN)RISH$AIRY"OARDWITHWINNER
Victor O’Sullivan, Whitechurch Macra, Seandun, Cork,
runner-up, Michael Murphy, Kiltealy/Ballindaggin
Macra, Wexford and James Healy, Munster Macra VP.
Winners of Macra’s NDC Gaelic football
seven-a-side men’s competition were South
Roscommon Macra. They are pictured with
Macra national president Kieran O’Dowd.
EEF
ACRAS"ORD"IAB
!TTHElNALOFhn
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McSweeney, seni
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and fellow Tarelto
wincSweeney, U23
member John M
ra
ac
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th
wi
ctured
ner. They are pi
O’Dowd.
president, Kieran
At Macra’s IDB Under 23 All Ireland dairy
stockjudging is John O’Brien, IDB, with
winner, Alan Twomey, Donoughmore Macra,
Muskerry, Cork, runner-up William Neville,
Tullamore Macra, Co Offaly and James Healy,
Munster Macra vice president.
Gaelic football
Winners of Macra’s NDC
petition were
com
seven-a-side women’s
.
cra
Ma
n
mo
South Roscom
Winter 2013 | m | 17
m
Cork girl crowned
Queen of the Land
C
ork woman, Geraldine Barrett,
has been crowned the 49th FBD
Queen of the Land by the organisers in partnership with the Irish Farmers
Journal.
A secondary school teacher from the
Carbery region of Cork, Geraldine will
now represent the festival and Macra na
Feirme at many high profile events during the year.
Geraldine was unanimously decided
upon as the winner by the esteemed
judging panel of Damien O’Reilly of
RTÉ Radio 1, Kathleen Leonard of FBD
and the 2012 FBD Queen of the Land,
Teresa Maria Brennan. In second
place was Amanda Conway, a trainee
manager from Croom in Limerick and
in third place was the first ever queen
from England, Kate Wainwright.
Kate runs her own accountancy business in Derbyshire. The 50th Queen of
the Land festival will take place in Tullamore next year from 7 to 9 November.
The top winners at Macra’s FBD
Queen of the Land; in third place,
England’s Kate Wainwright, overall
winner, Geraldine Barrett, Carbery,
Cork and in second place, Amanda
Conway, Co Limerick.
The Macra factor
The Greenhills Hotel was alive with
the sound of music on the 5 October as
Limerick Macra hosted its annual allsinging competition, ‘Macravision’. The
competition saw members from Limerick
and beyond battling it out and braving the
spotlight to embrace their inner ‘Gleek’,
while audience members took on the role
of Simon Cowell and judged the impromptu competition.
It was a great night for Limerick Macra
as the lads from Croom Macra took first
prize in the group section with their
version of ‘Waterloo’ and best dressed
act. Best solo went to Kilmallock’s Sarah
O’Riordan with her extraordinary version
of ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby’. The title of
solo runner-up went to Sixmilebridge/
Kilmurry Macra’s Liam Togher with
18 |
m | Winter 2013
Jennifer Lyons won by singing Anastacia’s
‘I’m Out of Love’.
‘I’m a Believer’. Berrings Macra won
impromptu competition as Joan Marie
Healy was the runner up with Bruno
Mars ‘Marry You’ and Jennifer Lyons
won the competition with Anastacia’s ‘I’m
Out of Love’. Best air guitar impression
went to Jim Heffernan.
French girl
wins Blue
Jean Country
Queen title
The top winners at Macra’s Blue Jean
Country Queen festival were, in third
place, Orla Murphy (Ardrahan Macra, Galway), winner, Canelle Beuze
(Autonne Village Twinning Association,
France), second place Sinead Duffy
(South Longford Macra).
France’s Canelle Beuze, a 20-yearold student, has been crowned the
2013 Blue Jean Country Queen in
Athboy, Co Meath, at the end of an
exciting festival weekend.
Canelle, a member of the Autonne Village Twinning Association, beat off competition from 28
other girls from all over Ireland
and overseas to take the title at
the Macra na Feirme festival
last weekend where she received
€1000 worth of prizes sponsored
by Stephens Cooke & Co. She was
crowned on Sunday night of the
June bank holiday weekend, much
to the delight of the many French
supporters attending as part of
The Gathering 2013.
Laois girl takes top prize
at Miss Macra festival
G
emma Goulding
from Co Laois
was crowned
International Miss
Macra 2013 at the close
of the 42nd International Miss Macra
Festival, which took
place over the August
bank holiday weekend.
Eimear Guiney from
the Avondhu region, Co
Cork, took second place
while Louise Ballantyne from Dublin was
awarded third.
This year saw 22
contestants taking part
in the 42nd International Miss Macra
Festival. Every August
bank holiday weekend,
Clonoulty-Rossmore
Macra na Feirme hosts
this fabulous festival
from the welcoming
ceremony on Friday
afternoon to the gala
banquet Sunday night,
which continues into
the early hours of Monday morning. Everyone
involved in the precise
planning and organising of the festival does
so on a voluntary basis
and the success of this
year’s festival should
particularly go to,
chairperson Donnacha
Ryan and his dedicated
team.
Gemma Goulding from Co Laois was crowned International Miss Macra 2013 at the close of the 42nd International
Miss Macra Festival which took place over the August bank holiday weekend. She is pictured with (left) Louise Ballantyne from Dublin who was awarded third place and (right) Eimear Guiney from the Avondhu region of Cork who
took second place.
UPCOMING EVENTS
North West
Kings and Queens
The North West has already started
organising the annual Northwest Kings
and Queens event for 2014. It is taking
place on Saturday, 25 January, in the
Sligo Park Hotel. Participants represent
their counties by working as a team to
compete unusual and fun tasks. No event
would be complete without a scrumptious
banquet and lots of dancing; this night is
no different. It promises to be a night of
fun, food and laughter for everyone — a
night to forget the January blues and a
night to start the party season of 2014.
Twitter: @Northwestmacra.
Facebook: NorthWestMacra
Mr Personality festival
The ninth annual Mr Personality festival
will take place from 10 to 12 April, 2014,
in the Springhill Court Hotel, Kilkenny.
Spread the word high and low and encourage the men of your county/region to
put their name forward and step up to the
plate to compete to become 2014’s Mr
Personality. For further information please
check out: www.mrpersonality.ie or email
questions to: mrpersonality
[email protected]
Winter 2013 | m | 19
m
The Land Mobility
Service — explore
your options!
Sean Finan, North West vice president, organised an L2D tour with Dawn Meats in Ballyhaunis,
Co Mayo. Members from Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim attended.
L2D tours at
Dawn a huge
success
T
he L2D (Live to Dead) initiative
between Dawn Meats and Macra
na Feirme was devised in spring
2013. Since then, the initiative has seen
tours take place in Dawn Meats factories
at Ballyhaunis, Rathdowney, Waterford
and Charleville.
On Tuesday, 1 October, I organised a
tour of the Dawn Meats plant in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo. The group was made
up of Macra na Feirme members from
Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim.
Paul Nolan of Dawn Meats, Waterford,
and Declan Keely from Dawn Meats, Ballyhaunis, showed us around the plant.
The day began with a presentation by
Paul on the history of Dawn Meats from
the early days to the present and how
the business grew to what it is today.
The Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme
and carcase grading system were also
discussed.
We were then taken to the lairage,
where we viewed a group of 11 randomly
pre-selected cattle. The cattle were a
mixed group of heifers, bullocks and
cows. Each member of the group graded
and fat scored the animals and guessed
the carcase weights of the animals before
slaughter.
20 |
m | Winter 2013
The group then proceeded to the
cold room/chill area where we saw the
carcases of the 11 slaughtered animals.
The actual carcase weights, grades and
the fat scores were compared with the
estimates that each member had taken in
the lairage. It was an interesting exercise for all participants. The different
cuts of meat from the carcase were also
reviewed with Paul and Declan stressing
the importance of the carcase being the
correct weight at slaughter. As carcase
weight increases, the size of meat cuts
increases which subsequently causes
problems with fitting the various cuts of
meat into the plastic containers present
on our supermarket shelves.
An informative and relaxed day was
had by all who attended the L2D tour. I
would like to thank everyone who took
part, especially Paul Nolan and Declan
Keely for giving up their time to show
us around. This is an excellent Macra
na Feirme initiative in conjunction with
Dawn Meats and one that I would encourage members to take part in.
— Seán Finan,
North West vice president
For anyone looking to the future either:
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Coping with mental health
within the farming community
Annabelle Kehoe,
Ballycoog Macra, Wicklow
F
arming is important to me and I
am delighted to be able to share my
research work with you on mental
health within the farming community. As
a farmer’s daughter, I am well aware of
the stressors facing farmers and their
families, e.g. physically demanding work,
long hours and no mandatory age for
retirement.
After deciding to research the area of
mental health, I drew upon results of a
‘See Change’ survey on Irish farmer’s attitudes towards mental health problems
which found the following:
‡RIIDUPHUVKDYHH[SHULHQFHGD
mental health problem,
‡RIIDUPHUVZRXOGQRWZDQWRWK
ers to know about their mental health
problem,
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for fear of letting others know,
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lem from friends,
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a relationship if a mental health problem
was diagnosed,
‡EHOLHYHWKDWIULHQGVZRXOGUHDFW
by distancing themselves.
These statistics resonated with me as
there is an idyllic image of farming as
a calm and healthy way of life. Through
P\UHVHDUFK,GLVFRYHUHGWKDWLQ
suicides in Ireland accounted for people
DJHGWRDQGDJULFXOWXUHDFFRXQWV
for the highest rate of suicide of all industries. I decided to use Macra members
as part of my study to tap into this age
Figure 1
COPING STRATEGIES
WOMEN
Emotional
support
MEN
Denial and
self-blame
(alcohol)
group and discover their awareness of
mental health supports and services
available. Ninety-three Macra members
PDOHVDQGIHPDOHVSDUWLFLSDWHG
by completing an anonymous questionnaire.
Participants were found to be unaware of the two services most tailored
WR\RXQJIDUPHUVZLWKXQDZDUH
of the Farm and Rural Stress Line and
XQDZDUHRI<RXQJ0HQWDO+HDOWK
Ireland. My research also showed the
differences of approach to coping with
stress on a gender basis (Figure 1
Following my research, I wanted to
help tackle the ever-increasing problem
of the stigma attached to mental health
issues and raise awareness around the
supports available. I have made recommendations to Macra on this basis. I
hope you find this article useful and
suggest that you look at the following
tips for future use. Wishing you all good
mental health and remember ‘the greatest wealth is health’.
Religion used
among the
farming
and rural
communities
p5USEDENIAL
p/USE
emotional support
Positive mental
attitude for LGBT
young people
Life is stressful and times can get
tough when life gets challenging. It’s
important that young people learn
positive life skills to help them deal
with life’s stresses. Positive mental
health is about learning how to cope
with periods of stress and how to
seek help when you need it.
Macra na Feirme is a great organisation to be a part of as we provide
a support network for young people
and our activities are a great way to
have fun and blow off steam.
In September, Macra and GLEN
published a booklet on positive
mental health for LGBT young people
in rural Ireland. GLEN’s presence at
the National Ploughing ChampionSHIPSMARKEDTHEÚRSTTIMEAN,'"4
organisation had a presence at the
event. You can download it on www.
MACRAIEWHEREYOUmLLALSOÚNDTIPSON
protecting your mental health.
TOP TIPS
Macra national president, Kieran O’Dowd, and Leinster vice president, Paddy Delaney, launched
the Macra na Feirme/ GLEN booklet along with Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney, at the
National Ploughing Championships.
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p#ONSULTYOURDOCTOR
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p2EMEMBER9/5!2%./4!,/.%
p$ISCUSSSHAREPROBLEMSWITH
family or a counsellor.
p#ONTACTOTHERFARMINGFAMILIES
in the community.
p#ONTACTGOVERNMENTAGENCIES
for assistance.
Winter 2013 | m | 21
m
FEIRME
bodies
T
he Feirme Bodies initiative was
organised to get Macra members
more active, more informed about
healthy eating and lifestyle. The brainchild of RYI committee member, Caroline
O’Dowd, it aimed to let people see familiar Macra faces lose weight and get fit,
then maybe encouraging all members to
do the same. Promoting positive mental
health is a massive part of our organisation and we believe getting active and fit
can not only improve our physical health
but also our self image and, therefore,
promotes positive mental health too.
Who better to show a good example and lead the way than the Macra
presidential team of Kieran O’Dowd and
the three vice presidents — Sean Finan
(North West), James Healy (Munster)
and Paddy Delaney (Leinster). The three
VPs then had to get two leaders each
from their own regions. This led to us
having 10 leaders nationwide.
22 |
m | Winter 2013
The project began officially at the start
of September at county officer training
in Ennis with the first public weigh-in.
The next weigh-in took place at club officer training two weeks later in Dublin
and there was a massive change on the
scales for all but one leader. At that
stage, DIT’s Nutrition Society came on
board to mentor the leaders on a oneto-one basis about changing to a healthy
and balanced diet.
Clubs all around the country were
encouraged to arrange activity-based
events for the leaders and members
to take part in to keep them active and
focused on their weight loss. Events such
as mountain climbs in Leitrim, 5k walks
in Kilkenny, jiving lessons in Cavan and
Zumba classes in Cork, to mention just a
few, were organised.
Many of these are continuing and
this is exactly what we had hoped for —
that long after the project finished the
activity-based events would continue!
“The Feirme Bodies initiative touched
a nerve with the general Macra population. Members around the country
bought into the idea and organised
various activities with the ultimate aim of
losing weight and promoting health and
fitness. I congratulate all the leaders (including myself!) who lost weight over the
six weeks. Hopefully, this will lead to a
lifestyle change for all of us,” said Macra
national president Kieran O’Dowd.
Regional level
The VPs organised their next weigh-in at
a regional level about three weeks after
club officer training. At this stage, the
total combined weight loss of all the leaders was over eight stone.
Eventually, the day arrived for the
final weigh-in and we arrived in Carlow
on the October bank holiday weekend
with our trusty weighing scales to see
LEADERS’ VIEWS
‘‘Over the course of the Feirme Bodies initiative, I lost 1st 3.5lb. This was
achieved mainly by taking a close look at
my diet and making a few small dietary
changes for the better. Prior to getting
involved in Feirme Bodies, I always
associated weight loss with extreme dieting, starvation and excessive exercise.
At the start of the initiative, I set myself
a target of adopting a more sustainable
approach that I could easily maintain into
the future.
‘‘The initiative was a learning experience and I hope to lose a few more
pounds over the coming weeks and then
hopefully sustain that weight into the
future by continuing on with the good
habits adopted and learned during the
Feirme Bodies’ initiative.’’
— Seán Finan
Ready to go! The ‘Feirme Bodies’ gang
setting off on the Treble R organised walk.
what the final weight loss would be and
if the leaders would reach the personal
goals they had set for themselves. There
were lots of nerves when they stood on
the scales for the final time but soon
that turned into lots of excitement and
delight when we could see how happy
and satisfied the leaders were when they
realised their total weight loss. So, when
the final calculations were done, the total
combined weight loss was a whopping 11
stone and 4lbs. A huge congratulations
to the 10 fantastic leaders who were so
courageous to allow us all to join them on
their journey to get fit.
The National Dairy Council also got involved in the project and gave us weekly
tips to share with everybody on our
Facebook page so keep checking that out
for more tips and advice. We have been
getting positive feedback from members
about the project and hope to run it again
after Christmas.
‘‘Macra’s Feirme Bodies was the kickstart I needed to get my bum off of the
couch and get active. The idea of getting
ÚTTERANDHEALTHIERWASSOMETHINGWHICH
had been lurking around in the recesses
of my mind for a long time but so many
things got in the way — lack of time,
not enough knowledge/motivation, bad
weather, laziness...anything really!
‘‘The Feirme Bodies initiative was the
perfect opportunity. A group effort (I’m
more motivated when others are there
too), a strong structure of weigh-ins
(scary, therefore no better motivator) and
organised events, moral support from
Caroline O’Dowd, as well as excellent
advice and tips from the DIT nutrition society (thanks Eileen) was what I needed.’’
me any harm either. So, when the opportunity to take part in Macra’s Feirme
bodies came along, I jumped at it.
‘‘Since taking up the VP role, I found
that my routine was broken and this had
led my eating habits to veer towards getting something while on the go or snacking at meetings. While the short-term
aim was to lose weight, the long-term
aim was to encourage a lifestyle change
and I think this has been achieved with
almost all of the changes I made being
MAINTAINEDAFTERTHEEVENTSOÚNGERS
crossed, if you come back to me in a
year’s time, I should have kept it off.’’
— James Healy
‘‘I applied to be a leader for the Macra
Feirme Bodies challenge at the last
MINUTE)WASTERRIÚEDqHAVINGDIETEDON
and off for more than 75% of my life, it
was a big challenge to undertake, both
mentally and physically. The Feirme
Bodies challenge was honestly one of
the best things that has ever happened
to me. Everyone was so supportive,
and because we had regular weigh-ins,
there was a level of accountability that
wasn’t oppressive, but it really helped in
keeping us focused on our goal. A huge
thanks is due to Caroline O’Dowd’’
— Una Ryan
‘‘I enjoyed taking part in the programme
and I was delighted to lose weight. I’m
KEEPINGITUP)mMLESSTIREDAND)mMÚTTER
THAN)WAS)TmSGREATTOBEABLETOÚT
through the cattle barrier again! Thanks
to everyone for the support.’’
— Rebecca Enright
— Paddy Hipwell
‘‘When I started the Feirme Bodies initiative I was full of enthusiasm and determination. I was going to be so disciplined
and be a size 8 by the end of it! That was
a completely unrealistic expectation and
life got in the way of my best intentions. I
did the best I could and although I didn’t
do as well as I wanted, I was happy
enough with the results.
‘‘I have decided that the best way for
me to do it is just take my time and not
put any pressure on myself. I’ve since
taken up a few sports and I’m hoping
TOGETMYÚTNESSLEVELSUPRATHERTHAN
focusing on my weight.’’
‘‘At the beginning of Macra’s Feirme
Bodies, I was probably not far off the
heaviest I have ever been. A combination
of a busy work/ Macra related lifestyle
can take its toll but, over the eight weeks,
I think I learned that there are a lot of
things you can do to help maintain both.
In the past, I played a lot of sports and
this helped keep things under control. I
DONmTREALLYHAVETIMEFORÚELDGAMESOR
even the gym as much as I used to, so I
tried to regulate my eating habits. While
I was able to increase my exercise levels
somewhat from what they were since
the elections, I think most of the 23lbs I
lost can be attributed to dietary changes
and countering a lack of sports and an
increase in Macra meetings with eating
healthier foods. Hopefully, I can keep this
up!’’
— Tara Heaney
‘‘While I had never been overly conscious about my weight, I had always
thought losing a few pounds wouldn’t do
— Paddy Delaney
Winter 2013 | m | 23
m
.UFlELD)RELAND
farming scholarships
T
he Nuffield Farming Scholarship is a leadership development
programme, in which scholars
who demonstrate potential are given a
bursary (currently €10,000) to travel and
prepare a report on their chosen topic.
The scholarship gives young people
aged between 25 and 45 the opportunity
to look at farming practices in other
parts of the world which are relevant to
the scholar’s topic of study. They gain
a better understanding of agriculture,
business and trends which affect agriculture and rural communities. Skills
development and other supports are also
provided to scholars during the two-year
programme.
Nuffield Farming Scholarships give a
unique opportunity to stand back from
the day-to-day occupation, and to study
a subject of interest to the scholar. A
person does not need academic qualifications, but will need
to persuade the
selectors
that they
How and
have the
qualities
when to apply
to make
!PPLICATIONSFORTHE
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24 |
m | Winter 2013
RECENT MACRA WINNERS
Sean Coughlan, from Co Mayo, has been
AWARDEDTHE.UFÚELDSCHOLARSHIPFOR4HE
TOPIC3EANINTENDSTOSTUDYISlATRANSFERTO
DAIRYINGTHEKNOWLEDGEANDCAPITALREQUIREDm
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INDAIRYINGASONLYOFFARMLANDIN)RELAND
ISTRADEDONTHEOPENMARKETEACHYEAR4HE
AIMISTOCREATEASUSTAINABLEFARMBUSINESS
SUITEDTOTHEWESTOF)RELANDTHATISCAPABLEOF
SURVIVINGWITHOUTHAVINGTORELYON%5SUPPORTS
Tommy MoylesFROM#LONAKILTY#O#ORKRE
CEIVESTHE-EAT)NDUSTRY)RELAND.UFÚELD3CHOL
ARSHIPFOR4HETOPICTHATHEWILLSTUDYIS
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Sean O’BrienFROM-IDLETON#O#ORKRE
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At the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards ceremony
were: Kevin Lane, chief executive, Irish Dairy Board;
Minister Tom Hayes TD; GAA star Bernard Brogan;
Edward and Olivia Fitzgerald, winners of the NDC &
Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards; and Zoë Kavanagh,
chief executive, National Dairy Council.
Celebrating Irish dairy
excellence with the NDC
T
he excellence of Irish dairy
farming is highlighted
through the annual National Dairy Council (NDC) and
Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards.
“The criteria for the NDC
and Kerrygold Quality Milk
Awards examines the technical
aspects of milk quality but also assesses quality in a complete context,
taking on board all of the components
which drive best practice for Irish dairy
farmers,” NDC chairman Jackie Cahill
said .
The awards recognise top standards in
dairy farming, providing role models for
the industry. They also help to promote
the quality, sustainability and excellence
of the Irish dairy sector and dairy produce to a consumer audience, from farm
to plate.
GAA star Bernard Brogan and Tom
Hayes, TD, Minister of State at the
Department of Agriculture, Food & the
Marine presented the national prizes in
Dublin in October. Fourteen
farms from eight counties
were commemorated, including five national category
prize winners and three
farms which were highly
commended.
Special tribute was paid to
the work of the expert judging
panel — Professor Patrick Wall,
Associate Professor of Public Health
at UCD; Dr Jack Kennedy, dairy editor, Irish Farmers Journal; and Dr David
Gleeson, milk quality research, Teagasc.
Commenting on this year’s finalists
on behalf of the judging panel, Dr David
Gleeson, Teagasc, said: “Good results
don’t happen by accident and, in some
cases, farmers were achieving top class
milk for the last 10 years. The standard is
set by the participants, not by the judges.
For example, nine of the 14 farms shortlisted had TBC less 10,000 and eight had
a SCC less than 120,000 cells/ml; in fact,
two had an average SCC under 70,000
— serious results. Six of the group had
an average protein percentage over 3.5
— very impressive, especially for spring
producers.”
You can find out about all of this year’s
national finalists and winners at www.
qualitymilkawards.ie where you can also
view some short films recorded by TV3 on
a selection of finalist farms.
The National Dairy Council.
The Experts in Dairy. Naturally.
www.ndc.ie
Facebook/NDCIreland
@NDC_ie
Winter 2013 | m | 25
m
Eleven things you should do
when saving for retirement
1
Engage with your future: decide
and plan for what kind of lifestyle you
want in retirement and work out how
you’re going to save for it. The average
person retiring today at 65 has a life
expectancy of 20 to 23 years, that’s a long
time in retirement. The Pensions Calculator at www.pensionsboard.ie can help you
work out the figures.
2
Understand: what type of pension
you are contributing to if you have
one. Many people find pensions hard
to understand so you should talk to others
about contributing to a pension, such as
your work colleagues, employer, trustees,
pension provider, financial advisor, family
and friends. For more information on this,
visit the Understanding your pension
section on www.pensionsboard.ie
3
Review: the adequacy of your pension contributions regularly. Check
if you are contributing enough to
have the income you want when you
retire. The Pensions Calculator at www.
pensionsboard.ie can help you work out
the figures.
4
Keep an up to date pensions file:
most pension arrangements are
obliged to keep you up to date on the
performance of your pension scheme,
however it’s a good idea to start a pension
folder and keep all your pension information in there. Read and check your annual
pension benefit statement and/or your
pension scheme annual report.
5
Information: if you don’t receive the
appropriate information on your pension scheme or personal pension, or
where you do receive the information but
don’t understand it, contact those looking
after your pension such as the trustees,
pension provider or financial advisor and
request the information be provided.
6
Ask questions: you should ask
that your pension information be
explained to you in plain language
and keep asking until you are happy and
understand the information you’re being
given.
26 |
m | Winter 2013
Decide and plan for what kind of lifestyle you want in retirement and work out how you’re going
to save for it.
7
Charges: you should always be aware
of the charges against your pension
fund and have them clearly explained
to you by the trustees of your pension
scheme or your pension provider.
8
Investment risk: it is important to
understand how your pension savings are being invested, the type of
strategy and the level of risk involved.
Consult the Pensions Board checklist on
investment, risk, fees and charges for the
type of questions you should ask at www.
pensionsboard.ie
9
Tax relief: the Government supports
you to save for your retirement, allowing you tax relief on your pension
contributions at your highest rate of tax.
It is important to understand the tax relief benefits and to make sure you receive
your full entitlement.
10
Approaching retirement: it is
especially important to review
any investment decisions taken
in the years running up to retirement. On
retirement you may receive a number of
different choices regarding how to draw
down your pension, this is something you
should research well in advance.
11
Standardisation of the State
pension age: it is also important
to be aware that new legislation
was introduced last year that will gradually increase the qualifying age for the
State pension.
Switch to Toplink.ie
Switch to Toplink.ie
8LIJEVQMRKGPEWWMͳIHW[IFsite that speaks your language.
The farmers’ website that understands your language.
Winter 2013 | m | 27
m
Macra
in focus
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28 |
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