Macra na Feirme Launch New Club
Macra na Feirme were delighted to launch a new club last month, a great start to the 2021 year. This new club is located in Ennistymon, Co. Clare. This brings the total number of Macra Clubs spread across Ireland to over 160.
The launch of a new club Ennistymon Macra took place last Wednesday evening (27th January) online via Zoom, attracting a sizeable attendance.
The launch of the Ennistymon club was led by Clare Macra chairman Cillian Griffey. “Macra is a national social organisation catering for 17-35 year olds with a wide range of interests including agriculture, sports, public speaking, drama/capers, volunteer work, travel opportunities and festivals. There are many leadership opportunities available within Macra including advocating for young farmers at European level and meeting MEPs/Commissioners,” Cillian introduced.
Macra National President Thomas Duffy and Munster Vice-President Sean Wallace attended the launch. Both congratulated everyone in getting Ennistymon Macra up and running and wished the new club committee well for the year ahead.
“Ennistymon are the first ever club in Macra history to be launched in a virtual, online environment, and this is testament to the hard work and creativity shown by everyone involved within Clare Macra” President Duffy said.
Guest speaker on the evening was Lahinch resident Ruairi McKiernan. Ruairi is the bestselling author of “Hitching for Hope”, a former presidential appointee to the Council of State, and founder of the SpunOut.ie national youth information website. He described himself as “a passionate champion for active citizenship” and noted his pleasure in being able to speak to Macra members on the night. He outlined how community and “meitheal” (co-operative system of working together) have been central themes in his life. He feels Macra embodies this community spirit in terms of how clubs and counties interact while simultaneously enabling personal development.
Senator and local councillor Roisin Garvey was also in attendance and noted how she was “blown away” by the scale and variety of opportunities that Macra had to offer young people in the locality and offered her assistance to the newly formed club in whatever way she can.
Newly appointed chairperson Eoin Collins commented “It’s an honour for me to be elected as Chairperson of Ennistymon Macra. There is an excellent range of activities and opportunities available through Macra to all young adults in the locality. There are significant geographic opportunities for this club in terms of the local population Ennistymon can pull in from all over North Clare and I urge anyone thinking about joining us to just bite the bullet and go for it!”
Anyone looking to get involved with Ennistymon Macra were advised to join online at https://macra.ie/pages/join-macra and also to check out the Ennistymon Macra Facebook page.
Macra encourages any group of people who would like to set up a new Macra Club in their community to get in touch. It is great testament that in its 77th year of establishment Macra na Feirme is continuing to develop and grow.