There was lively debate and discussion at the fourth annual general meeting of the Association of Farm Contractors of Ireland (FCI) recently held in Portlaoise.

FCI national chair John Sheehy told the meeting that FCI had gathered momentum and it was necessary to keep it moving forward as there is great enthusiasm for FCI around the country. He reported that the association still had a long way to go in getting the membership numbers to an acceptable level and he said that there is a lot of work to be done to get additional members on board.

Sheehy told the meeting that farm contractors were big employers, providing more jobs in Ireland than the Intels and Dells and he added that this fact needs to be recognised and FCI needs to keep working hard to get the recognition.

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Noel Coonan, TD, presented sprayer training certificates to FCI members during the meeting. He told the meeting that there were great opportunities for the future of farming and farm contracting and he urged FCI members to work together, keeping politicians well briefed so that they can work for the good of farm contractors.

FCI is a limited-by-guarantee company owned by its members and it reported a 44% increase in income for the year, mainly from new member subscriptions. Administrative costs at FCI also rose, while members’ funds increased marginally to €12,340. The AGM voted to retain the membership fee at €200 per year for 2016.