Thomas Duffy will become the 37th president of Macra next month. As the only person nominated, he assumes the role without facing election. He set out his stall at the first of six regional hustings on Monday night in Carlow.

The 27-year-old hails from a 95-cow dairy farm in Virginia, “on the right side of the Meath-Cavan border, except when it comes to spreading slurry in January”.

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He farms in partnership with parents Ned and Kathleen. He also works part-time as an adviser, holding a degree in sustainable agriculture and a master’s in environmental management.

He’s been in Macra for 10 years, and there is a strong family background. “My mother was on the national council, my sister Kay has been the county chair.”

On Macra’s finances, Duffy expressed relief that the upcoming 2018 accounts will show the organisation making “a small profit” after a couple of years of losses.

“I’m from Cavan, I like to have money set aside,” he remarked during his address.

Macra has four key roles. They are competitions, social events, and the two main areas of policy driven by the agricultural affairs and rural youth affairs committees.

Duffy believes Macra is getting the balance right between the various strands.

“It’s not widely known, but Macra is the third largest lobbying organisation in the country, after IBEC and the IFA. We are mostly lobbying on young farmers’ issues; we lobby on some rural youth issues.

“It doesn’t take anything away from the agricultural issues to lobby different departments on different matters, and ensuring we have a strong voice on those.

“The key resource we have in our organisation, and on the committees, are the members. They are very committed, and really want to have their voices heard on every relevant matter.”

Duffy says that Macra “used to compete with the likes of the GAA for members – now it’s Netflix”.

He explains that what he means is that Macra offers active participation rather than the passive lifestyle that is so easy for young people to slip into.

“It’s quite easy for people to become disengaged and isolated. It takes a genuine effort to become engaged with the community. It’s harder for people suffering from depression and anxiety to stay engaged – depression and anxiety can isolate you,” he says.

He believes passionately in the ability of the busy competitions calendar to pull in members who initially join for the social engagement. He has won and contested national finals from public speaking to the Macra/FBD Young Farmer of the Year to drama.

Hustings

While Thomas Duffy has been elected unopposed, there are three regional elections taking place in Macra. Monday night saw the four candidates for the Leinster vice-presidency put through their paces on a range of issues. Macra’s finances featured, with spending priorities, sponsorship and the patron membership scheme all covered. The need to be more active in non-farming policy areas was stressed from the floor. All four candidates -– Laois’s Veronica Wheatley and Helen Dempsey, Gerard Mahon from Offaly and Louthman Eamon Briscoe, none of who farm full-time – had support in the packed room. The hustings continue in Claremorris on Monday and Navan on Wednesday.