The Agricultural Science Association (ASA) Graduate assembly event is set to take place online tomorrow (Friday, January 13) at 12:00p.m.

The event had initially been scheduled to take place at the Amber Springs Hotel in Gorey, Co. Wexford, but will now only be taking place online.

Speaking to Agriland, ASA vice-president Niamh Bambrick said the event is aimed at people who have graduated from agricultural science degrees within the past 10 years.

She said there has already been “a high number” of people registered to tune in to the event, which she said will feature “a fantastic line up of speakers” .

Graduates interested in tuning into the free event should register in advance. A link to the event is available on any of the ASA social media pages.

The event

The opening address will be delivered by Bambrick herself.

The second speaker will be Colm Davis from Davis Financial Solutions, who will deliver a financial focus presentation.

Next up will be a career insights panel discussion which will be moderated by former ASA president Mary Delaney.

The speakers in the panel discussion will include:

  • James Byrne, Irish Country Meats (ICM) export sales manager;
  • Deirdre O’Shea, food and agribusiness lead, AON;
  • Barry Larkin, tillage expert and CEO of Acorn Independent Merchants;
  • Christopher Tuffy, full-time dairy farmer and 2022 FBD Young Farmer of the Year;
  • Dr. Hazel Rooney, technical pig co-ordinator at Alltech.

Delivering the closing address will be the ASA president Tommy Boland.

ASA conference last year

The first ASA Annual Conference since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic took place on September 8, 2022, at the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny.

The theme of the conference was ‘science at the forefront of agricultural sustainability’.

The event had three panels assembled from the industrial and research sectors, which included professor John Roche, the chief science advisor for New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries, which includes the country’s agriculture portfolio.

The meeting was also be addressed by Minister for Foreign Affairs (and former minister for agriculture) Simon Coveney.