ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT ROBINSON AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF MACRA NA FEIRME AT ATHY
ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT ROBINSON AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF MACRA NA FEIRME AT ATHY
It is a pleasure for me to be here with you today to commemorate Macra na Feirme's fiftieth anniversary. It is, I think, more than a commemoration; it is a celebration too, a celebration of what your organisation has achieved since it was founded in 1944.
I was impressed to read the inspiring words of John Litton, Chairman of the first Macra Executive, who said in 1946:-
"Whatever little differences may crop up from time to time, whatever petty jealousies may arise, let us overcome them for the good of all. Let us resolve to see this job through to success so that when we are the "old farmers", we will have left as a legacy to the succeeding generation of young farmers, a solid firmly established national organisation to help them become good citizens of an agricultural Ireland".
John Litton could not possibly have foreseen all the changes that would affect Irish agriculture and rural life between then and now. But I think he would be proud to see Macra as it is today and to know how the legacy he spoke of was preserved and developed by succeeding generations. Indeed, your Programmes Book for 1993/94 bears witness to Macra's vibrancy, practicality and relevance to the modern Ireland.
I would not wish to burden you today with too much history. But the past can help us to understand and appreciate the present and I feel it is timely to say a word or two about Macra na Feirme's development since its foundation in the 1940s. I could almost say that my own presence here is part of a tradition; as many of you will know, one of my predecessors in office, Sean T. O Ceallaigh, officially opened the first Macra headquarters here in Athy in 1947. At that time, the distinguished Irish language writer Pádraig Ö Conaire had already proposed the name Macra na Feirme, a title that symbolised the strength and determination of young Irish farmers.
Cuireann sé riméad orm go bhfuil an ceangal seo ann idir Macra na Feirme agus an tUachtaránacht tríd an Iar-Uachtarán Seán T. Ö Ceallaigh. Narbh iontach an comhartha féin-mhuiníne é gur trí Ghaeilge amháin a chuir an t-eagras nua seo é féin in iúl agus féach mar a d'éirigh leis.
Bhunaigh Macra na Feirme an ICMSA, an IFA agus Macra na Tuaithe. Is eagras féin-mhuiníne iad na h-eagrais seo go léir. Is eagrais iad atá bunaithe ar pháirtíocht an phobail áitiúl.
Tá súil agam go bhfuil fhios ag gach duine anois go bhfuil meas ar leith agam ar ghrúpaí agus eagrais atá préamhaithe sna pobail áitiúl agus go bhfuil mé an-bhródúil mar Uachtarán as an méid atá bainte amach acu.
In those early days, the need for up-to-date farming information was acute. Then, in the post-war years, scientific research made new farming methods and techniques available, and Macra na Feirme helped and encouraged enterprising young farmers to make full use of them. Farming in Ireland was becoming a business, one based on scientific knowledge. The progress made in the fifties and sixties enabled Irish farmers to grasp the opportunities that opened up in the 1970s with our accession to the then European Community. And Macra continued to thrive, adapting to the European dimension and providing an increasing range of services for its members.
Indeed, a wide range of services was and is needed, because Macra is not only a farm organisation; it is an organisation concerned with rural life as a whole, especially for the younger generation. It has a well-developed social dimension as well as an economic one. The fact that it has some urban branches means that it is well placed to foster better understanding between town and country. Further afield, international understanding is also promoted by Macra's exchanges of young farmers with other countries. And on top of all those assets, Macra na Feirme now has a proud tradition stretching back fifty-years. Many of today's 10,000 members are following in their parents' footsteps. It is no exaggeration to say that over this past half-century Macra na Feirme has radically changed for the better the way in which rural people perceive themselves and their role in society. By now, three generations of young farmers have benefitted from its activities based on self-help, co-operation and initiative. Through Macra's work, some 500,000 young people have developed their self-confidence and their sense of pride in country living. That work of human development still goes on; through debates, seminars, competitions and other events, Macra members are being helped to deal with the changing circumstances of farming and of rural life.
In fact the pace of such changes is one of the reasons why organisations like Macra are needed now more than ever. The new emphasis on the environment, the need for farm diversification and rural development, the greater international influences on farming, the need to adapt production to consumer needs - all these taken together represent perhaps a greater challenge than any which has gone before. The outcome will depend very largely on the actions and decisions of our young farmers backed up by Macra na Feirme, now an organisation that has grown up and positioned itself in the forefront of progress. Together you will, I am confident, be able to preserve a viable and vibrant society throughout rural Ireland.
It is, perhaps, a cliché to say that the future of a nation depends on its young people. but clichés can be true; that one is. What I have seen of rural youth, its ability, initiative and energy, leads me to believe that the future of rural Ireland is in safe hands.
Let me now offer you my warmest congratulations on your fifty years of achievement. If the rich and varied programme of events you have scheduled for the rest of 1994 is any indication of the decades to come, I have no doubt that the next fifty years will be equally successful. And that is my closing wish to you - continuing success in enriching the lives of young farmers and of all young rural people.