John Keane has been elected as the next president of Macra na Feirme, after the counting of ballots at the Irish Farm Centre in Dublin today (Wednesday, April 7).
Keane, of Devil’s Bit Macra in north Tipperary, defeated Daniel Long in the postal ballot, which began with the issuing of ballots on March 17.
The result follows a series of online hustings that took place over the course of March across the different Macra regions.
Keane will take up the reins as president of the organisation at the Macra AGM next month.
He will take over from Thomas Duffy, who comes to the end of his two-year term as president, having taken over the role in May 2019.
Background
John Keane, a dairy farmer, is a former chairperson of Macra’s Agricultural Affairs Committee, as well as chairman of his club and of north Tipperary Macra.
Keane was one of organisers of the ‘Make the Moove – Farmers Matter’ mental health and wellbeing initiative which held a number of workshops in 2019.
He was also among the recipients of the 2020 ABP National Leadership Awards held by Macra back in December.
Aside from Macra, John is also a member of his local GAA club, Rathdowney/Errill.
Vice-presidents
Also today, the result is set to be announced for the race to become the Macra na Feirme Munster vice-president.
As well as that, the confirmation of the next Leinster vice-president and north-west vice-president (which are uncontested elections and feature one candidate each) will also take place.
Macra na Feirme
Macra na Feirme is a voluntary organisation representing a community of 10,000 young people from rural Ireland.
It advocates for members aged between 17 and 35 in an inclusive and supportive environment.
Macra’s programmes and activities encourage young people to play an active role in their local community, making rural Ireland an attractive place to live and work.