History

Tommy Sheahan, Past President (1973-75), Peader Murphy Former CEO and Declan Martin Past President (1971-73).

Macra na Feirme was founded by a group of 12 agricultural advisers, rural science teachers and farmers, in 1944. The first headquarters of Macra na Feirme was located at the Town Hall, Athy, Co. Kildare and was opened by the President of Ireland, Sean T. O’Kelly, in September 1947.

Rural science teacher Stephen Cullinan was the first secretary of Macra na Feirme and the first editor of the Young Farmers Journal, which preceded today’s Irish Farmers Journal. Macra na Feirme was adopted as the official title of the organisation in December 1946. ‘Macra’ means stalwarts or the elite and ‘na Feirme’ means of the land.

Over 250,000 young people have passed through the ranks of Macra na Feirme since its inception. Much has changed since those early days. Today, young people have different priorities and need new challenges, which Macra actively provides to its members across all areas of activity.

The management and control of the organisation and the direction of its policy is the responsibility of the National Council. The National Council consists of a National Council Representative (NCR) from each county or Macra Region (31 NCRs), the current President, the ex-President, the three Vice Presidents, the Chief Executive Officer, an IFA Representative and Associate Member Representatives.

The National Council is responsible for four subcommittees, which include: National Executive; Competitions Committee; Agricultural Affairs Committee; and Rural Youth (RY). Each NCR is appointed to work on a sub-committee during their term on National Council. A number of co-optees, nominated by counties, are elected by National Council to each sub-committee.