Four students from Gorey Community School have been crowned the overall winners of the 2022 Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition at a special ceremony in Croke Park today (Friday, April 1).
Students Eoin Kelly, Caoimhe Crean, Caoimhe Horan and Pádraig Kinsella impressed the judges with their project, which researched the environmental, economical, and ethical benefits of Irish Angus breed. In addition, the students produced a recipe booklet to educate the local community on this sustainable breed.
The competition, now in its eighth year, challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves for beef production, with the aim of promoting the beef brand and raising awareness of the care and attention required to produce it.
As part of their project, the students conducted a survey with dairy farmers which showed promising results for the consideration of using the Certified Irish Angus breed in dairy farming.
In addition to this, they took to educating farmers about how they could increase the economic value of a dairy-bred calf by using an Irish Angus sire.
To spread these messages they held a number of local events and distributed information through local stores.
Irish Angus winners
Announcing the winners, Charles Smith, general manager of the Irish Angus Producer Group said:
“We are thrilled to be back in Croke Park this year for a physical event which provides a great opportunity for the agri-industry to engage with the next generation.
“Gorey Community School are well deserved winners of this year’s competition. The fact that one of the winning team is not from a farm but possesses a deep respect for farming and all things rural, demonstrates the strength of the community this group come from.
“The enormous respect for the farms and the traditions they come from was evident in their approach and execution of this project.
He added that the quality of the projects across the board was hugely encouraging for the future of farming as well as the future of the school competition.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, who opened the event said:
“The competition is such a wonderfully creative and innovative initiative. It has captured the imagination of the farming and non-farming communities over the years.
“At a time when there are growing demands from consumers around the provenance of their food, the Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition is an important bridge between the producer and the consumer.
“It also tells as tremendous story of the quality of animal we are renowned for producing and the incredible care our world-class farmers take of their animals.”
Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey, Rachael Blackmore, who comes from a farming background, was the special guest at the year’s awards ceremony.
She shared her experience of growing up on a farm, speaking about how it impacted her love for animals, her career, and her sporting achievements by instilling in her a good work ethic.
Runners up
From Carrick-on-Shannon Community School in Co. Leitrim, Grace McKeon and Jane Carty were named runners up for their work exploring ‘Health and Safety on Beef Farms’, which helped the students to better understand the impacts farming can have mentally and physically.
The team also created an emergency-details sheet for farmers, as well as a traffic-light system to engage with children and notify farm visitors of the dangers in different areas of the farm.
Conor Farrell from The Abbey School, Tipperary Town was awarded an outstanding acheivement award, that recognised his individual contribution to the competition.
The judges said he demonstrated “an ability to understand new beef farming technology and explain its advantages to others in a practical and logical manor which was impressive”.