Margaret, whose business, Clonarn Clover Free Range Eggs, is based on her farm in Kells, Co Meath, was nominated for the prestigious award by the IFA.

IFA President Joe Healy commended Margret’s achievement saying: “Margaret should be an inspiration to all farmers, and I am delighted to see her innovation and enterprise celebrated on an international stage.”

“The contribution women make to agriculture is not always fully recognised, but more than other enterprise, farming is a whole-family affair that takes hard work and a combined effort to succeed. Margaret’s story is an illustration of this; she and her husband established the poultry enterprise in 1988 and three of her children are now employed in the family business.”

Margaret and her husband Leo began producing and packaging eggs in 1988. Starting out with just 150 hens they have since grown their business to 9000 laying hens on their farm, with eggs also sourced from 22 other local producers. Clonarn Clover Free Range Eggs employs 33 full and part-time staff.

Forward thinking

Innovations recognised at today’s awards include a designer egg which is enriched with omega 3, selenium and Vitamin E, as well as the launch of the O’Egg brand and introduction of the first coloured packaging to distinguish the brand in the market.

Healy continued: “Women are the back-bone of rural areas, and play an innovative role, particularly in on-farm diversification and agri-toursim, on top of the farm’s production role. The role of women in agriculture has been traditionally understated due to the predominance of male farm owners, but in fact women farmers account for approximately a quarter of the regular agricultural workforce.”

“Innovation will become all the more crucial for rural areas in the years to come, and we need to ensure an enabling environment for successful women entrepreneurship is developed to ensure farm businesses can capitalise and prosper.

“The perception of farming as a male-only career is well outdated; the role of women in farming must be fully acknowledged and their views should be given equal weight in policy development.”

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