I farm: “I grew up on a dairy farm between Borrisleigh and Templederry in Co Tipperary. It’s a hillside farm so the land is not perfect but it’s still good enough.”

Now: “My brother is Tom and his son, my nephew Alan, has the stewardship of the farm now.”

System: “As I said, it was a dairy farm but it is now a suckler farm. Alan keeps about 40 to 50 cows on the farm now. The calves are kept on until they are a year and half and sold then in Nenagh or Thurles marts.”

Brazil: “I’m a priest and have been based in Brazil since 1980. I’ve been in the parish of Teresina for the past year now.”

Crime in Brazil: “My area is very, very poor. Most women work as domestic workers and the lads work on construction sites. Drug crime and gang crime are both chronic in our area. You could be held up at gunpoint at any time of the day. There is terrible violence. If you are held up and you hand over money they will just run on but if you don’t give them money to pay their drug debt you run the risk of being shot.”

Farm work: “It’s a real pleasure to be back working on the farm. I get great enjoyment out of doing the various jobs. I think I have planted somewhere in the region of 2,000 plants for hedgrerows over the past three weeks. It’s great for the soul to be out with nature and working on the farm again.”

Tractor run: “To raise money for the work of the Redemptorists in my community, we are holding a tractor run on 30 December. It will run from Borrisoleigh through Templederry, Silvermines, Rearcross and back to Borrisoleigh. The money will be used to build community centres in my community. The run starts from Bishop Quinlan Park in Borrisoleigh at 11.30am.”

Quotable quote: “I was brushing my teeth and looking at the window at the rain this morning and I thought thank God I’m going back to Brazil in two weeks.”

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