The clock is ticking. The biennial ‘Conference and Exhibition’ (Confex) of the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) will take place early in the new year – on Wednesday, January 10, 2018.

The venue is the National Show Centre, Cloghran, Swords (adjacent to Dublin Airport).

To mark the event, the FCI has come up with a special logo (below).

FCI

The association is inviting contractors and their operators to the event; it costs €20 to attend. Interested parties are asked to book in advance – by calling: 087-7551111 or by emailing: [email protected].

According to the FCI, it has a database of 1,100 farming and forestry contractors – dotted all over the country.

The event will run from 12:00pm until 9:00pm, with a series of half-hour seminars on a range of topics during the day.

The Confex theme will be ‘Contracting – A Vision for the Future’ and it will focus on “providing Irish farm and forestry contractors with a one-day event that will incorporate a series of information seminars coupled with a machinery exhibition”.

FCI

Image source: Shane Casey

The association has welcomed the support of FBD Insurance as the lead sponsor. It says that it has worked closely with the insurer to provide a “tailor-made insurance support service to suit the needs of Irish contractors”.

Contractor-focused events

Confex 2018 has apparently been modeled on the success of similar contractor-focused events run by similar associations across Europe.

Through its membership of CEETTAR – the European contractors’ association – the FCI says that it has been able to call on the “support and expertise” of contractor associations in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands – all of which run similar biennial events.

FCI

Image source: Shane Casey

The event will build on the “success of a smaller event” held in Kilkenny in March 2016. For 2018, the new location at the National Show Centre, Cloghran, Swords, is adjacent to Dublin Airport. The facility includes a covered display area, restaurant facilities and hard-standing car parking – accessible from the M50 and M1 motorways.

FCI

Image source: Shane Casey