There is set to be a ‘changing of the guard’, with two new regional advisory managers set to take up their new positions in the coming months, the agricultural agency Teagasc announced earlier today.
Regional managers will lead the delivery of Teagasc advisory services to farmers and the delivery of educational courses in the regional education centres.
Pat Clarke will take over as the new regional advisory manager for Teagasc in counties Galway and Clare. Clarke is currently a dairy specialist based in Athenry.
Meanwhile, Majella Moloney will be the new Teagasc regional advisory manager in counties Kerry and Limerick – taking over from her current position as principal of the Teagasc Agricultural College in Clonakility, Co. Cork.
David Colbourne will move from Clare/Galway to manage the region covering counties Laois, Kildare, Meath, Louth and Dublin. Meanwhile, Billy Kelleher will move on from the Cork West region to the Cork East region.
John Horgan is also set for a change, moving from the Kerry/Limerick region to lead the advisory service in Cork West.
The changes come about following the retirement of two long-serving Teagasc managers, Ger MacMahon in Cork East and Larry O’Loughlin in Laois, Kildare, Meath, Louth and Dublin.
Speaking following the announcements, Head of the Teagasc advisory services Dermot McCarthy said: “I would like to wish both Majella Moloney and Pat Clarke well as they take up new positions with Teagasc in the advisory service.
I would like to pay tribute to the contributions made by both Ger MacMahon and Larry O’Loughlin over their long careers in Teagasc, in the many roles which they pursued in the organisation, and most recently as part of the advisory management team.
“I wish the other managers well in their newly assigned areas of responsibility,” McCarthy concluded.