Nine farm safety ambassadors announced as part of Irish Rural Link initiative

A farm safety initiative focused on combatting labour and isolation concerns has been launched by the Irish Rural Link.

The 'Farm Safety Community Champion' programme sees local representatives act as an ambassador for farmer safety and wellbeing in different areas of the country.

The programme will train nine farm safety community champions from various backgrounds, including farming, teaching and community mentoring.

The ambassadors are Bernie Wade from Wexford, Maura Canning from Galway, Mary Oakley from Tipperary, Mark Riordan from Kerry, Ned Kearney from Waterford, Robert Lally from Mayo, Niamh Monahan from Monaghan, Aisling Kelly from Kildare and Geraldine Delaney from Galway.

These champions will develop networks in their regions to connect farmers to their communities, delivering farm safety and wellbeing talks at local marts and community centres.

Manual

To support this, a manual has been created to guide these talks, which will include resources for local individuals to learn more about the programme and the steps they can take to encourage connection with farmers in their society.

Irish Rural Link said the initiative, funded by the Department of Agriculture, was spurred on by the growing decline of local farming networks in Ireland, leading to a lack of social connection and workforce shortages.

It added that by offering rural citizens an opportunity to reach out and offer support, this project will help ensure that the safety and wellbeing of the farming community is always a priority.

Farmer’s haggart

Irish Rural Link, as part of this initiative, is calling on rural communities to organise a ‘farmer’s haggart’ as part of this programme.

The farmer’s haggart is led by a local farm safety community champion and will encourage farmers to assist one another in simple tasks on the farm.

The goal of this is to foster local connections between farmers to further develop rural farming networks and support community wellbeing.

Irish Rural Link CEO Seamus Boland said the need for community has never been so important for farmers.

“With fluctuations in the market, inconsistent weather and growing isolation, having the farm safety community champions will help build out our farming networks for a more connected rural society.

“We hope to see local communities take this as an opportunity to support, strengthen and sustain relationships with and between farmers for a more inclusive future,” he added.

You can find your local farm safety community champion on the Farmers4Safety website and information on how you can organise a farmer’s haggart event within your community.