I come from a beef, dairy and tillage farm 10 minutes outside Clonaslee in Co Laois. I’m a first year agricultural science student in UCD and I plan on specialising in animal and crop production. The farm is run mainly by my dad, Dermot, with help from my grandad, Brendan, my younger brother, Darragh, and myself. I play football with Sarsfields Mountmellick and UCD and have a great love for music, but unfortunately, it has had to take a back seat since starting college.

Challenge for agriculture

I think the current climate crisis will be our biggest challenge. Weather is becoming more and more unpredictable. Animals are being brought in from grass earlier and earlier and let back out later. This drives up costs for feed, fuel and electricity. Slurry tanks are under pressure and farming is becoming more labour intensive and stressful for the farmer.

A prime example is 2018. Cows were calving during heavy snow in March, which was followed by a drought in the summer, bringing feed shortages.

Debates

For me, [taking part] was about getting out there and meeting more people. I knew no one starting in UCD and thought it would be a good opportunity to mix with other students. I really didn’t expect to be considered as I’m only first year, and thought I did terrible in the heats, so when I was asked to be a researcher I was really surprised and grateful. It’s crazy how many people I’ve gotten to know.

What did you learn?

1 Waste: Since doing the research to oppose the motion, I found that waste prevention is only a small part of saving the environment. How we manage waste is what counts.

2 Veganism: Veganism is growing in popularity. It is hard to know if it is just a phase, but I hope it is here to stay, as it can have some positive effects. I’m not implying everyone should go vegan, but if we were all to adopt some of their habits, we could help the environment, our health and the economy. We should start growing more crops fit for human consumption, so that we can feed our population without having to import food such as peas and beans, which we can grow in Ireland.

3 Trade: I found I learned the most researching this motion. If subsidies are implemented correctly, they are the way forward. Global free trade comes with many problems and could be very dangerous for a country as small as Ireland, regardless of how good quality our produce is. New Zealand has no subsidies and it is causing environmental problems, as they have less farmers but bigger farms. Having no small farmers just would not work in Ireland or Europe, in my opinion.

Policy

The industry will have to be firm and consistent in implementing measures to reduce and stop climate change. There will also have to be compensation for farmers affected. If subsidies and schemes are correctly targeted, farmers will be more willing to change their ways to help the environment.

Opportunities

I see opportunities in environment protection. We are already more aware and trying to reverse the damage, but have a long way to go yet. I see many jobs in this area in the coming years.

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Debating is a tactical sport

‘The biggest landfill on the planet is in the ocean‘