Conor Murphy from Co Cork has become the third candidate to declare they intend to run for Macra president.

The Whitechurch Macra member announced his entry to the presidential race over the weekend.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Murphy, who has been a member of his club for 10 years, said he is running for the position so every member can experience the benefits of Macra.

“How it can bring you out of your shell, how it develops leaders, how Macra can advocate for not just the young farmers – which is very important – but those living in rural Ireland as well.

“We can see our membership is half shifting from young farmers – which is our main target – to rural people,” he said.

Murphy added that he believes he will be able to advocate for Macra’s membership in political settings.

‘Back to basics’

The agricultural contractor from Carrignavar said his campaign will be run based on the principal of getting Macra “back to basics”.

“My main thing is getting back to basics with Macra, getting the small things right. What I’d love to see now is the active membership increase. See clubs across the country grow, that there are more and more active members, that we move away from a majority of paper members.

“If we just do the little things right, I believe the big things will follow to make sure the members’ voices are heard when we are going talking to the Department or the Minister for Agriculture or in the pre-budget submission, that what we are advocating for reflects what the membership wants,” he said.

Murphy, who was previously chair of the national competitions committee, added that he would also like to see competitions and social activities continue to increase, as they have post-COVID.

The Cork man enters the race for Macra president alongside John Martin Carroll from Kerry and Josephine O’Neill from Kilkenny.

Correspondence was sent to members stating that nomination papers will be issued to clubs on 5 February, to be returned by 26 February.

Hustings will follow, with the count usually held at the Irish Farm Centre in April.