I Farm: “I run a beef and sheep farm. I keep 40 purebred Charolais cattle and 60 breeding ewes. The ewes lamb in April and May. We have a lot of hill sheep as some of the land would be rough terrain, so we lamb them later in the season. I am chairman of the Inishowen Show and chairman of Inishowen Co-operative. I am also on the council of the Irish Charolais Cattle Society.”

Family: “I am married to Rosemary and we have five children: Tony (22), Mary (21), Declan (18), Megan (16) and Áine (11). “

Last Week: “Last week, we were busy preparing for the show, setting up and organising everything so that it runs smoothly. At home, training and working with the animals starts the week before. Often it’s the animal you want to show the most that is the most difficult to train. Grooming and washing is done the night before the show.”

Inishowen Show: “It is quite a large show in Donegal. We are unique in that we are the only show that still takes Friesian cattle in Donegal, as well as all the beef breeds. We entered five Charolais animals (three bulls and two heifers). We won two firsts, five seconds and had a reserve champion.”

Youth: “Since the economic bust we have seen a slight rise in the amount of young people entering and attending the show, perhaps because more are coming home to farm. It is refreshing for the agriculture community and it’s great to see a return in interest to the shows and pedigree livestock.”

Beef: “It’s a very worrying time for the beef industry. The factories are holding us at ransom. Farmers were told to keep calves to fatten as bull beef, that there would be a market for them, and there is a lot of anger about that now. It’s very confusing for everyone and there seems to be no right answer.”

Sheep: “I am concerned about the price of lamb it just keeps dropping with no letup at all. Our lambs are not fit yet as we lamb them late, so I hope the prices start to steady up before factory time comes.”

Quotable Quote: “The prize for showing is getting the rosette for your animal and the pride that goes with it, the prize money is merely a bonus.”