The 2023-2025 national president of Macra Na Feirme, Elaine Houlihan, comes from a small village in Limerick called Athlacca. Along with helping out at a county-level, she is an active member of Kilmallock Macra and has served as Munster’s vice-president previously from 2021 to 2023.
This week, we hear from Elaine on what it has been like to be Macra’s national president over the past few weeks:
“Just over a month into my presidency as the national president of Macra, it has been a rather busy few weeks, to say the least.
“Since taking over the position from Mr John Keane on 13 May at our National AGM in Bantry, Co Cork, I have been in Brussels with the European council of young farmers (CEJA), discussing issues affecting us all at European-level.
"It was a great opportunity to make links with other young farmer organisations so early on into my presidency.
“When I made it back to Irish soil, the momentum certainly didn’t decrease, as our national rural youth chairperson Niamh Farrell and I headed into the Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting to represent our members, in regards to derelict housing on farms.
“From there, the next day I was off to a meeting in Bord Bia; the following day, I was down in Portlaoise for another meeting – that was the end of my first week.
“As you can see, the schedule of the president of Macra is a rather busy one, but for me, it is very important to make time to attend club and county events to meet our membership.
“The past few weeks within Macra have been jam-packed with clubs all over the country holding talks, walks and BBQs to give people a social outlet throughout this fine spell of weather we are experiencing."
Taking part in competitions
“It has been great to attend competitions over the past few weeks as the national president. I started off with the Public Speaking one, which Bree Macra won, followed by Tag Rugby, which Fermoy Macra won.
"I even headed off to Meath on the June bank holiday to attend the Blue Jean Country Queen Festival, which was simply amazing – to see how much of an impact Macra can have on a community as Athboy came out in huge numbers to support the festival."
Policy
“From a policy point of view, we are still actively engaging with the Government since our march in April.
"I am positive we will have some successful stories to share in the coming weeks after we meet again with our Taoiseach two weeks’ time to discuss our points in more detail and receive an update on the work carried out by the Government.”
If you would like to keep up to date with what Elaine is up to over the next weeks, make sure to follow her social media accounts, which she updates daily.
Instagram: @MacraPresidentFacebook: Elaine Houlihan Macra National President 2023 – 2025.
The 2023-2025 national president of Macra Na Feirme, Elaine Houlihan, comes from a small village in Limerick called Athlacca. Along with helping out at a county-level, she is an active member of Kilmallock Macra and has served as Munster’s vice-president previously from 2021 to 2023.
This week, we hear from Elaine on what it has been like to be Macra’s national president over the past few weeks:
“Just over a month into my presidency as the national president of Macra, it has been a rather busy few weeks, to say the least.
“Since taking over the position from Mr John Keane on 13 May at our National AGM in Bantry, Co Cork, I have been in Brussels with the European council of young farmers (CEJA), discussing issues affecting us all at European-level.
"It was a great opportunity to make links with other young farmer organisations so early on into my presidency.
“When I made it back to Irish soil, the momentum certainly didn’t decrease, as our national rural youth chairperson Niamh Farrell and I headed into the Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting to represent our members, in regards to derelict housing on farms.
“From there, the next day I was off to a meeting in Bord Bia; the following day, I was down in Portlaoise for another meeting – that was the end of my first week.
“As you can see, the schedule of the president of Macra is a rather busy one, but for me, it is very important to make time to attend club and county events to meet our membership.
“The past few weeks within Macra have been jam-packed with clubs all over the country holding talks, walks and BBQs to give people a social outlet throughout this fine spell of weather we are experiencing."
Taking part in competitions
“It has been great to attend competitions over the past few weeks as the national president. I started off with the Public Speaking one, which Bree Macra won, followed by Tag Rugby, which Fermoy Macra won.
"I even headed off to Meath on the June bank holiday to attend the Blue Jean Country Queen Festival, which was simply amazing – to see how much of an impact Macra can have on a community as Athboy came out in huge numbers to support the festival."
Policy
“From a policy point of view, we are still actively engaging with the Government since our march in April.
"I am positive we will have some successful stories to share in the coming weeks after we meet again with our Taoiseach two weeks’ time to discuss our points in more detail and receive an update on the work carried out by the Government.”
If you would like to keep up to date with what Elaine is up to over the next weeks, make sure to follow her social media accounts, which she updates daily.
Instagram: @MacraPresidentFacebook: Elaine Houlihan Macra National President 2023 – 2025. 
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