The Irish Hereford Breed Society, in collaboration with Slaney Foods International & LIDL Ireland have awarded 5 bursaries of €1,000 each to 5 successful candidates at the 85th National Ploughing Championships which took place in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
The programme, which was launched earlier in the summer, created wide interest from prospective and aspiring agricultural students wishing to go to Agricultural College or study Agriculture at 3rd level in the Republic of Ireland this year.
Participants had to submit an assignment entitled: Environmental Sustainability – the Challenges for the Irish Beef Sector (maximum 2,000 words). A team of adjudicators selected ten qualifiers, to attend for interview at the Irish Hereford Breed Society Stand during this year’s National Ploughing Championships. These interviews and the selection of the final 5 winners was carried out by Matt Dempsey who is very well known and highly regarded within the Irish Agricultural sector.
Andrew Doyle, Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture, announced the five winners:
- Paraic Ryan – Sixmilebridge, Co Clare
- Clem Rossiter – Bannow, Co. Wexford
- Nicole Keohane McCarty – Kinsale, Co. Cork
- Michael Kennedy – Stradbally, Co. Laois
- Hannah Quinn Mulligan – Croom, Co. Limerick
Together with our partners we are very pleased with the response to the competition and with the efforts of the young aspiring agricultural enthusiasts who participated. We wish the five winners and the five runners up all of whom reached a very high standard every success in their chosen career path.
The challenges arising for agriculture into the future will require increased education particularly in Agricultural Science. The environmental challenges facing the industry are many and varied depending on where in the world food is produced and where the world’s population is concentrated. We are confident that this competition has succeeded in highlighting the great need for further education in agriculture to meet the needs of a growing population.
Pictured below the 10 finalists in the competition
Clem Rossiter, Nicole Keohane McCarty, Aislinn Lawlor, Castlecomer, Kilkenny, Catherine Leydon, Boyle, Roscommon and Hannah Quinn Mulligan
Back L to R
Eoin Brennan, Lanesboro, Longford, Liam Philpott (IHBS President), Rory Fanning – Slaney Foods Managing Director, Paraic Ryan, Matt Dempsey – Chairman The Agricultural Trust, Michael Kennedy, David Farrell, Stradbally, Laois, and Joseph Forbes, Enniskeane, Cork
Irish Hereford Breed Society Ltd 