Teagasc staff members from Westmeath/Offaly Con Feighery, Eoin O’Callaghan, Tara Guinan, John Kelly, Leanne Conagy, Jim Moyles, Bernard Doorley, T. J. Carey, Mark Coyne, Catherine Kilmartin and Paul Fox with in front pupils from Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan Sinéad Bracken, Chloe McDermott, Mary Colton and Trása Bracken who held their Super Draw for An Angus Bullock and other prizes at the Teagasc Pavilion at the Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock Show on the Butterfield Estate Blueball, Tullamore.

Enterprising local students raise over €4k for charity

Kayley Hardiman

Published: Thu 17 Aug 2023, 1:57 PM

Due to increasing interest in an agricultural project by four local students from Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan the group were invited to the Teagasc stall at Tullamore Show on Sunday. The students also held a charity super draw and gave away an Angus bullock to a child from Ardee, Co Louth. Over €4,000 was raised from this for Crumlin Children's Hospital.

The Kilbeggan students are twins Trása and Sinéad Bracken, Mary Ellen Colton and Chloe McDermott and they are rearing a number of calves for an 18 month period as part of the competition.

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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, pictured with pupils from Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan Trása Bracken, Mary Colton, Chloe McDermott and Sinéad Bracken who participated in the Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition. They are pictured after Minister Charlie McConalogue drew the winning tickets for their Super Draw with first prize of an Angus Bullock at the Teagasc Pavilion at Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock Show on the Butterfield Estate Blueball, Tullamore. Ger Rogers PhotoS Ger Rogers

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The Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan pupils with their teacher Padraic Earley. From left: Mary Colton, Trása Bracken, Padraic Earley, Teacher, Chloe McDermott and Sinéad Bracken. Ger Rogers

They selected five bullock calves at the National Ploughing Championships in Laois last year.

The girls will be entering sixth year this school term and they first entered the competition in fourth year when they were encouraged to take part by a science teacher.

They sent a video application in November 2021 where they discussed agricultural science and their chosen theme of sustainability for the project.

Durrow native Trása said that they put the calves on a sustainable diet of beans for protein and barley for energy. They also supported local businesses within a two mile radius of Kilbeggan.

As part of the competition, the girls had the opportunity to go to Brussels where they enjoyed a trip to the European Parliament, a butchers' school and an Angus farm. They also gave a presentation to the MEPs which Trása said was “a really cool experience.”

They presented the project at an event in the parliament, hosted by Fine Gael’s Colm Markey and attended by MEPs Sean Kelly, Clare Daly, Mick Wallace and Luke Flanagan. They focussed on the theme, 'Exploring the Opportunities of a Low Carbon Beef Brand. Angus Breed to Succeed'.

Speaking about what she gained from getting involved in the competition, Chloe said: “Not coming from a farming background myself, the Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition has given me an unmatched experience, the knowledge and the skills it has taught me will help in my future career, which I definitely think will be agriculture. I never realised the amount of work and commitment Irish farmers go through to produce the highest quality beef, I have so much respect for all farmers and their families.”

The students have also done a lot of fundraising and managed to raise over €5,600 for Dóchas Offaly and €500 for Daffodil Day.

The students were invited to the Teagasc stall on Sunday where they were interviewed about their project. The students met Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue which Trása said was very interesting.

“It was very nice to see he had made time to come to our stand to meet us. As four young people growing up in agriculture it was brilliant to see the Minister listening to our ideas and supporting us as we are the future of Irish farming and the decisions we make today will affect all of us.”

The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition, run by Certified Irish Angus and its processor partners, ABP and Kepak, aims to encourage second level students to gain an understanding about the care and attention required to produce and market the highest quality beef for consumers. The overall winner will be chosen in March, 2024.

Each of the finalists will receive the financial benefit involved in the selling of the animals to the processors on completion of the project. The winning students also receive an additional grant of €2,000 for their further education.