Macra na Feirme has played a major role in Irish communities for over half a century. Established as a source of training and a social outlet for young farmers, Macra’s remit has evolved as our country has changed, and Macra members are exceptional young people who love to support their communities, be strong leaders and enjoy themselves while they’re at it.

Know Your Neighbour is a chance to bring neighbours together and have fun, and clubs work tirelessly throughout the year to fundraise for local charities, keep the local town looking well and help out with other local organisations.

We’re currently in the thick of Calor/Macra Know Your Neighbour for summer 2016. It’s 11 years since we first launched Know Your Neighbour, and the goal of the event has remained the same: bringing communities around Ireland together, and getting people out and about and involved in their locality.

open to everyone

Over the years, some Know Your Neighbour events have taken off in popularity, and none more so than in Araglen, a small village of about 300 located in Cork.

Every year, the Fermoy and Mitchelstown Macras join forces to host a Know Your Neighbour party at the Araglen Community Field Day.

Mairead Allen of Mitchelstown Macra says, “There has been a carnival running every July in the village for the past 50 years. The organisers asked us to get involved and we decided a Know Your Neighbour party would be of most benefit to the community, and in the last five years it’s gone from strength to strength.

“We usually run an obstacle race along with quad driving and tractor backing, so you have to be 17 or over to enter, but it’s open to everyone, not just Macra members,” Mairead explains. “We have a good community spirit here, but Know Your Neighbour helps to enhance that, particularly because it gets neighbours involved in events they might otherwise avoid, and there is something really positive about that.”

Exceeding expectations

Castlebar in Co Mayo has also seen its fair share of major Know Your Neighbour events, including one in the town centre that attracted over 2,000 people. According to Mayo Macra member Shane Quigley, “The turnout surpassed even our most optimistic expectations, but looking back with hindsight, we put in a serious amount of work to advertise the event. We had an advert on the front of the local newspaper, we printed flyers and put up a lot of posters. We also contacted the local radio stations and did a couple of short interviews on them too, so it all added up in the end to a magnificent day.”

East Laois Macra has been running a Know Your Neighbour barbeque that has become an annual fixture in the community calendar, says club member Peter Farrell. “We wanted to do something that we knew the whole community could get involved in and really it doesn’t get much simpler than a barbeque. Not only that, it provided an outlet to raise money for a local charity – we usually pick a different one very year. While a lot of the community would already know each other, months could pass by without people having a proper conversation, so I think Know Your Neighbour does its job in that respect.

“We usually have the same people attending every year which is nice,” he continues, “but often if someone new comes to live in the area, they’ll come along too, so it can really help integration.”

The annual East Laois Macra barbeque will take place this year on Saturday August 20th in Flemings Bar, Ballylinan.

If you visit knowyourneighbour.ie you will see there are many events taking place around the country over the coming weeks, and it’s never too late to get involved if you want to attend or host your own event.

All you have to do is register your event on knowyourneighbour.ie and Macra will send you a pack with t-shirts, caps, posters and balloons to help you with your event. And why not tell us how you got on?

We’re always looking for photos and tales from the event, you can send an email to macranafeirme@gmail.com. CL