FINALISTS AT A GLANCE
÷Colaiste Treasa, Kanturk, Co Cork, which was placed in the final two years ago, are represented by Áine O’Connor, Gillian Casey and Máire Moylan, all from farming backgrounds.
Their theme for the project is ‘Benefits of Irish Family Farming Systems’.
÷ From the Burren in North Clare, Amy Woods, Seamus McNamara and Katie Thomas are representing Mary Immaculate Secondary School at Lisdoonvarna. The theme for their project is ‘Certified Irish Angus Beef Production in Tandem with Nature’.
They aim “to show our local farms that this breed could open new opportunities for them” in the unique Burren area where farming is carried out under special constraints.
They plan to hold an Angus beef night at their college next month to highlight the suitability of Irish Angus cattle to the ancient Irish winter grazing practices on the Burren.
÷ St Ita’s School, Drogheda, which caters for students with mild general learning needs, are being represented by Conor Belton, Alisa Crosbie and Michael McQuillan. The school is a unique entrant because they didn’t have ag science as a subject in the senior cycle at the school. Under the theme ‘Quality and Flavour of Irish Angus Beef’ they are hoping to be able to show why they consider Irish Angus better than other breeds and how farming activities can influence meat quality.
÷Katie Tully, Saidhbh Gaffney-Bent, Amy Everard, Ciara
Smith, and Francesca McKenna are representing St Joseph’s
Mercy Secondary School,
Navan, Co Meath with interest in the competition seeded by their visit to the Ploughing last year.
They have chosen the theme ‘Women in Agriculture’ to highlight the challenges faced by women in the sector, encourage more young women to consider careers in agriculture and to explore the variety of careers in agriculture and food.
÷ The opportunity to work on a topic “we love” and at the same time benefit their agricultural science studies inspired Roscommon Community College students Sean Trundle, John Cunniffe and Keelan Gallagher to participate in the competition. The theme for their project is to study the ‘Value of Irish Angus in Suckler Systems’ by assessing the ease of management of the breed, the added value of bonus payments and working with local farmers to achieve an understanding of the ICBF Eurostar indices.
÷‘ The Value of Irish Angus as a Production System’ is the theme chosen by students at the Royal School Cavan for their project in the competition, in which the college is competing for the first time. All of the team are from farming backgrounds and in addition to the practical aspect of rearing the calves, they are concentrating on examining the potential of the Irish Angus under different farming systems with particular emphasis on part-time farming.
THE SCHOOL DIDN’T HAVE AG SCIENCE AS A SUBJECT IN THE SENIOR CYCLE