Some of the country's finest young stock persons traveled to Royal Meath Show on Sunday for the finals of the FBD All-Ireland Young Stock Person competition.

Run by the Irish Shows Association (ISA) in conjunction with FBD Insurance and the Irish Farmers Journal, 26 finalists competed across three different ages categories, having qualified at agricultural shows across the country all summer.

Although the standard in previous years has been exceptional, this year's finals may have been the best yet, with a level of enthusiasm, knowledge and skill that will be difficult to match.

The competitors were assessed on a range of different aspects, including, stock judging, grooming, clipping, leading and showing, before taking part in a short interview.

Every category carried a number of points which were totted up at the end of the day to identify the winners in each section.

Senior

Adjudicating over the senior participants was Sharon Rothwell from Co Wicklow.

When she tallied up her points, it became clear that Valarie Keogh from Co Offaly was in pole position. Having qualified at Corrandulla Show, the 24-year-old excelled in all aspects of the competition, from preparation of her animal to an in-depth knowledge of every day activities on her own farm.

After setting up her own herd of pedigree and commercial Belgian Blues a number of years ago, this impressive young woman plans to continue farming into the future.

Pushing her all the way was runner-up Colin Lynch, a 19-year-old from Co Laois who qualified at Charleville Show.

Another Belgian Blue fanatic, Colin has a real passion for breeding top-end commercial show cattle and, like Valarie, demonstrated a great understanding of what it takes to produce cattle from birth to show and sale day.

In third place in the senior section was 19-year-old Jack O'Meara from Co Offaly. A young man with a massive interest in breeding commercial show calves, Jack runs a herd of pedigree and commercial cattle alongside his brother Declan.

Intermediate

Boasting the most competitors was the intermediate section, which was judged by Gareth McGuinness.

Coming out as the overall winner here was 13-year-old Oisìn Clarke, a proud young Cavan man.

Although the youngest participant in his age category, he impressed with his overall enthusiasm, attention to detail and was the only competitor in the competition to receive full marks in the stock judging class.

A newcomer to the showing game, he has big plans for the future, with his eyes firmly set on the commercial cattle show scene.

In second place was another young man at the top of his game, Oliver Taggart from Co Antrim.

A qualifier from Ballymoney Show, this 17-year-old has form, having previously won champion young handler at a Limousin society show and sale.

As well as being a top-class young stock man, he also has a keen interest in livestock photography.

Keeping these two young stock men on their toes all day was Cork girl Grace O'Donovan, who went away with third place.

Showing cattle since she was just eight years old, she loves show day and meeting new friends along the way.

Junior

Tasked with the challenging job of judging the junior and youngest competitors of the day was Leitrim native Deirdre McGowan.

When her scores were counted up, ISA secretary Jim Harrison announced Finn Devine from Strabane, Co Tyrone, as the junior champion for 2026.

A young man with a bright future in the show ring, his passion for cattle and showing shone through all day. Finn was showing a Charolais calf he borrowed for the day, making his victory that bit more magnificent.

Much to the delight of the Northern contingent present around the ring, Thomas McCann from Co Down followed through in second place.

Like Finn, he loves pedigree cattle breeding and everything that goes with it, especially the breeding and genetics end of things.

Eilìs Hannon from Co Limerick completed the lineup, taking home the third prize ticket in the junior section.

The fourth generation from her family to show cattle, this young lady has little to learn and is definitely one to watch out for in the years to come.