Louth Macra na Feirme’s Young Farmer Development Group held a farm safety information night earlier this month in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk.

The event was well attended by individuals from the farming communities of Louth and its surrounding counties. The audience gave their complete attention for the duration of the presentation and listened attentively to all the speakers.

Pat Griffin, from the Health and Safety Authority, gave a detailed report on the problems faced on Irish farms on a daily basis, along with the plan for improving occupational health and safety in agriculture.

He also presented the listeners with shocking statistics from recent years in relation to farm fatalities, together with the figures concerning the number of serious and life-changing accidents that take place each day.

The main part of the evening involved three local men – John McDonnell, Tom Hoey and Kevin McEnteggart – who courageously shared their personal accounts of their own farm accidents and the consequences which followed.

Brian Rohan, founder of the organisation Embrace Farm, gave an overview of the work they are carrying out to develop various support structures to help families come to terms with the irreplaceable loss of their loved ones following a farm fatality.

Embrace recently launched a series of videos with testimonies of families that have endured tragic loss in farm accidents, entitled ‘What’s Left Behind’.

Brian played the first of the Embrace videos on the night, which focuses on the death of Offaly hurling U21 manager Dermot Hogan earlier this year. The video shows the deep emotional scars and practical problems that the popular GAA figure’s death has left.

Michael Hanlon, of Hanlon Machinery, gave a demonstration on how easily the new PTO cover product can be adapted to different shafts.

Audience contribution

The night concluded with a considerable number of contributions from the audience, with individuals sharing their personal farm accident experiences, followed by an open discussion on health and safety issues on Irish farms.

Louth Macra would like to sincerely thank all of the brave contributors on the night, along with the event sponsors, The Crowne Plaza, FBD, Hanlon Machinery, Mid Louth Garage and Cllr Jim Darcy.

UTV was present on the night as part of the production of its Rare Breed series, which will be broadcast in Republic of Ireland in the New Year.

Farming has long been Ireland’s most dangerous industry but it is hoped that information nights like this will assist in reducing the level of farm fatalities, which have spiralled out of control this year.