As the curtain closes on the final “rally” of my presidency, let me take you through some of what happened over the weekend.

Macra members from every corner of the country descended on Kildare for the annual conference, fondly known as the “rally”. The weekend is a jam-packed feature on the Macra calendar and this year was no different.

Events kicked off on Friday night with the Irish Farmer’s Journal Know Your Ag quiz, with Callan Macra taking home the title.

On Saturday morning, members attended a variety of farm walks, with Minister Charlie McConalogue joining members on one of the farms. Meanwhile, Minister Martin Heydon joined me in launching the ‘Ewe Book’, a new initiative as part of Make the Moove to encourage people to jot down the challenges they experience during the day.

On Saturday afternoon, An Taoiseach Simon Harris addressed members as the keynote speaker of Macra’s Annual Conference, titled Generational Renewal.

The Taoiseach thanked Macra for its contributions to Irish society throughout its 80 years, particularly noting the positive contribution of Macra’s Make the Moove initiative to the mental health of rural Ireland.

Minister Charlie McConalogue participated in a fireside chat followed by a panel discussion of Laurence Shalloo, Teresa Roche and John McNamara during which issues including succession, education and diversification dominated.

Competitions

Competitions continued on Sunday as members participated in the Sheep and Beef Stock-judging with Stephen O’Keeffe, Enda Feighery and Sam Gogan taking home the silverware.

Meanwhile, the finalists for both Club of the Year and Best New Member were put through their paces by judging panels. At the banquet that night, Freemount Macra was crowned overall Club of the Year while Callan,Three Parishes and Broomfield were named as Leinster, North-West and Emerging Clubs of the Year respectively.

Eighty years of our organisation were celebrated at the black-tie banquet – it was an honour to be joined by so many past presidents to celebrate this milestone. The curtain might be closing on my time as Macra president but after our weekend in Kildare, it is safe to say that Macra is only thriving and growing.

- ELAINE HOULIHAN