There is always a moment – usually at the end of the day at the Women & Agriculture conference – where I have a big sigh of relief that we pulled off another successful event for our readers. This conference is months in the making. As soon as we finish one, we are already reviewing everything in anticipation of next year. But before we move on, let’s take a moment to reflect.

Speaking about our keynote speaker Mary Martin, one attendee said to me afterwards that, “It was like yourself and Mary were having a chat in the sitting room and we got the opportunity to earwig”.

I think that’s the nicest compliment, and conveys how relaxed Mary was discussing her connection to farming; and her years working in politics – her commitment as youth officer of Fianna Fáil and travelling the country on the campaign trail with Charlie Haughey. A cheer rang out amongst over 500 women when she confirmed that early in their relationship, it was definitely Micheál Martin who pursued her. She also took us behind the scenes on her private tour of the White House, what it was like attending Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and told us about a fascinating trip to Nice to be hosted by President Macron and his wife Brigitte, adding that life quickly goes back to normal. “The day after I got home from France, I had to go cut the grass as the green bin was being collected,” she said, to lots of laughter.

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I want to thank every single woman who came and supported our conference. I love chatting to those who come year after year, as their annual outing with their sisters and friends

The presidential election did not go in Heather Humphreys favour, but in a campaign that was quite toxic, often focusing on all the things that the candidates have done wrong, rather than the many things that both candidates have contributed to Irish society, one attendee stated that it was refreshing to see Heather in a setting where she appeared relaxed, following a standing ovation welcome. That’s not to say we didn’t challenge her on rural issues that need to be addressed but we saw a side to her that was not reflected in a lot of the media. The event is about celebrating women and it was fitting that two days later, Catherine Connolly, our third female president of Ireland was elected.

The amount of cookery demos that I have seen Neven Maguire host has probably run into the hundreds at this stage. But his demo at last week’s Women & Agriculture conference topped them all. As many know, during the pandemic Neven rekindled his love of his DJ decks. At Electric Picnic this year, he did a one-off set and although cooking will always be his number one passion, he said he would make another exception for our conference. Seeing over 500 women dancing, laughing and having fun was good for the soul – I already feel under pressure about next year.

I want to thank every single woman who came and supported our conference. I love chatting to those who come year after year, as their annual outing with their sisters and friends. But I must say a special thanks to those women who came on their own. One woman I spoke to said she had wanted to come for years and decided this year was the one, as she had the day off. She didn’t feel comfortable going to an event on her own but her husband convinced her that it would do her good. She came up to me at the end of the event to say the day for herself was better than she ever expected and she was heading home reinvigorated and revived.

That’s why we do it, every single year.