High achievers win at National Leadership Awards final

The Macra na Feirme and ABP Leadership Awards were hosted by charity founder, social innovator, podcast host and Irish author Ruairi McKiernan. The evening saw Ruairi interview all six finalists on stage, delving into the different aspects of Macra such as competitions, the friendships made and the issues surrounding the members of rural Ireland, including Mental Health, LGBTI+ inclusivity and broadband access.

There was no doubt that all six finalists presented were worthy leaders and will continue to make huge impacts on their local communities.

John Keane, Helen Dempsey and Helen Hayes were awarded the National Leadership Award on the night.

John Keane is from Co Laois but is a member of Devil’s Bit Macra Club in north Tipperary. John is the national council representative for north Tipperary but was also appointed the national chair on the board of Macra na Feirme at the AGM in June.

He was also the chair of the national agricultural affairs committee until June of this year, where he worked on farmer issues and developing policy. John, as well as Jonathan Dwyer (another finalist we met on the evening), set up the Make the Moove initiative in 2018. They saw a need in their community and worked with the Health Service Executive to create a programme aimed at supporting the mental health needs of farmers and the people of rural Ireland.

Helen Dempsey is from the Mountmellick Macra Club in Co Laois. Last year, she was the county competitions secretary, and this year she was elected as the county travel, sports and social officer for Laois. Helen was also a member of last year’s national competitions committee where she contributed to the organising and hosting of events but also acted as the public relations officer, posting on social media and compiling the competitions newsletter to keep members updated about fixtures, results and promoting the 20x20 campaign.

Helen Hayes is a member of Devil’s Bit Macra in north Tipperary. She was the county chair for north Tipperary Macra last year. Helen is on the organising committee of the autumn seminar, which was due to take place in November but is postponed until November 2021.

This seminar is run alongside Rural Youth Europe and is titled “Building Bridges, Creating an LGBTI+ Positive Europe”. This year, Helen also sits on the national rural youth committee and holds a position on the working group for The Future of Work, which will work on lobbying the Government to ensure access to broadband for all across Ireland.

Congratulations to Helen, John and Helen, but also to our other three finalists:

On the evening, we were joined by Macra national president Thomas Duffy, Sarah Colgan from the 20x20 campaign and Eoin Ryan from ABP Food Group.