The finals of the Macra na Feirme Public Speaking competition will take place in Hannon's Hotel Roscommon on Saturday the 13th February. The finalists are Glanmire Macra club from Seandun, Clodagh Macra club from North Tipperary, Ramor club from Cavan and Athboy club from Meath.

Educational Trip to Northern Ireland Sunday 14 – Monday 15 March 2010. Macra na Feirme’s Rural Youth Initiative committee is offering an educational tour to Northern Ireland.

The national final of Macra na Feirme's variety entertainment contest, the FBD Capers Competition, took place in the Mountmellick Arts Centre, county Laois this past weekend, where Athboy Macra club from Meath beat off stiff competition from five other groups to emerge victorious on the night.

Macra are currently attending a seminar organized by CEJA entitled The CAP beyond 2013: Reinforcing the Role of Farmers to Better Meet the Needs of European Society in Seville from the 3rd to the 6th of February 2010.

The three winners of this year's Macra na Feirme National Leadership Awards, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, were announced last night, Tuesday January 19th at a special reception in Bank of Ireland Business Banking Offices on Mespil Road in Dublin.

We're pleased to present the February e-newsletter from Rural Youth Europe.

Donal McCabe from Longford Town Macra Club and Josephine McManus from South Leitrim Macra club have been crowned the North West Macra King and Queen 2010. The event took place in The Shannon Key West Hotel, Rooskey, Co Leitrim on Saturday the 23 January. The MC on the Night was Willie Hegarty from Shannonside Radio. Kings and Queens representing the nine Counties in the North West competed for the perpetual title.

The national finals of the Ladies' and Men's Indoor Soccer competitions were held on Sunday the 17th of January in Gormanstown College, Co. Meath. This year's competition saw thirty-nine teams battle it out for the coveted national titles.

In the men's final, Camross Macra from county Laois whose team consisted of Sean Gilmore, Niall Cuddy, Joe Phelan, Colin Delaney, James Palmer, James Delaney, Ray Cuddy and Tadhg Doran emerged victorious over the new club South Leitrim Macra in Co. Leitrim.

Macra na Feirme national president Michael Gowing encouraged all young dairy farmers to apply to the new Dairy Efficiency Programme which focuses on the expansion of dairy discussion groups and increased farmer participation.

CEJA’s position paper on agriculture and climate change for the upcoming discussions during the UN conference in Copenhagen. As the voice of over one million young farmers throughout the European Union, CEJA represents the next generation of European food producers, who will be directly responsible for tackling the combined challenges of food security and climate change. They therefore hope that their position paper will be taken into consideration and achieves the attention it deserves.