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Macra National President, Josephine O’Neill, has today sounded the alarm on the declining number of young farmers across Ireland, warning that the future of Irish agriculture and rural life depends on reversing this trend. “In recent decades, we have seen a worrying fall in the number of young people entering farming,” stated O’Neill. “The average age of Irish farmers continues to rise, yet across the country, we meet young men and women who want nothing more than to build a life on the land. The problem is not a lack of ambition—it is the barriers that stand in their way.”...

Make the Moove is a mental health initiative, kindly supported by FBD, which started in North Tipperary Macra in 2018 to help combat and raise awareness around suicide in the farming community. Since 2018, Make the Moove has grown from strength to strength, offering subsidised counselling, awareness talks, training, and more recently a Crisis Response Team (CRT). Over the next four weeks, Make the Moove will roll our a new campaign called "Ewe Go", which offers a pack to be sent out to people with two helpline cards and Revive active sachets. Macra National President, Josephine O’Neill, explains the objectives...

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The awards were presented at a banquet dinner, last Tuesday, September 9th. Aileen, a Blarney native, milks 140 dairy cows on a 100% leased farm, managing 28 in-calf heifers and 24 calves as replacements. She began farming in December 2021 after leasing a dairy unit in Whitechurch, purchasing a herd, and starting milk supply. In 2023 she introduced her own heifers, and now runs the enterprise with her husband while raising their six-month-old baby. The farm is supported by three part-time staff – Sarah, Aoife, and Tadgh – and has a strong focus on sustainability. Alongside farming, Aileen teaches PE...

Macra welcomes recent comments by the Tánaiste Simon Harris that more needs to be done on succession as part of Budget 2026. At the recent Tullamore Show, the Tánaiste spoke with Macra representatives and also indicated that he would expect the upcoming budget to show movement in the area of generational renewal and succession.Macra National President Josephine O'Neill welcomed the comments by the Tánaiste and reiterated her comments that “generational renewal must become a key issue for our government, to ensure a future for our young farmers and for rural Ireland. Our government must now show that this was not...