Irish Rural Link has announced the winners of the 2026 AgriKids Farm Safety Ambassador School Programme, with eight awards presented to primary schools across Ireland.

This initiative, which is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, aims to provide practical, farm safety education to primary school classrooms, with the hope of strengthening the link between schools, farmers and the wider community.

St Daigh’s National School, Monaghan, was awarded the highest honour of ‘best school’, with its approach to farm safety education themed ‘the farmyard is not a schoolyard’.

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The judges recognised the school’s community-led approach to the initiative, which provided students with opportunities to engage with farm safety both practically and emotionally.

The ‘best class’ title was awarded to the third class pupils of Dromakeenan National School, Tipperary.

Minister of State for foresty, farm safety and horticulture Niall Collins congratulated the pupils and teachers of St Daigh's National School, Inniskeen, for the school’s community-led learning approach to engaging pupils on farm safety.

Engagement

“I would also like to thank the schools and teachers who engaged with Irish Rural Link’s Agrikids to deliver this programme and I am urging all schools nationwide to consider participating from the start of the next school year.

“It is important that we all keep in mind that the farmyard is not a schoolyard,” he said.

Four pupils were also recognised as farm safety ambassadors, an award that is nominated by schoolteachers, highlighting pupils who are passionate about raising awareness about farm safety.

Sophie Alexander (St Patrick’s National School, Wicklow), Niamh Meagher (Dromakeenan National School, Tipperary), Pádraig Cooper (Ballyellis National School, Wexford) and Ryan Regan (Scoil an Chroí Ró Naofa, Cork) were the four recipients of the award.

Two schools were highlighted for the best learning initiative awards: Cloughjordan National School, Tipperary, for its stop motion animation farm-safety videos; and St Patrick's National School, Wicklow, for its child-centred farm safety day, ‘safe hands on the land’.

AgriKids is a farm safety platform for children, founded in 2015 by Alma Jordan and with an ethos to “positively engage, educate and empower our children to become farm safety ambassador”.

Farm safety remains a vital topic across all age groups, with agriculture remaining one of the highest-risk sectors. Eight people under 18 years of age lost their lives in farm accidents involving farm vehicles in the 10 years between 2016 and 2025.