MED AGM 2015 - Report
The M.E.D. AGM 2015 took place on Tuesday March 10th, in The Wark Hall, Belleek,
Co. Fermanagh. Members were welcomed by MED Chairman Jim Brennan, who
commended them for attending at a time of the year when there is great demand on their
time.
MED Secretary, Hugh Gillespie began by reading the minutes of the last AGM (2014).
As there were no matters arising these were then adopted. (Proposed by Molly Reynolds
and seconded by Francis Flanagan).
Accountant’s Report
Gerry Gallagher apologised for Terry Mc Intyre as he was unable to attend the meeting.
Gerry then gave a summary of the accounts for the year. He also thanked Geraldine Mc
Gill and Martin Doyle for their excellent accounts keeping. The adoption of the accounts
was proposed by Hugh John Patton and seconded by Pat Johnston. The election of Terry
Mc Intyre as the Accountant for the coming year was proposed by Molly Reynolds and
seconded by Hugh John Patton.
The Skillnets Managers Report
The Network Manager Gerry Gallagher gave a report on the Rural Enterprise Skillnet
Programme. He gave a powerpoint presentation on some of the courses run during 2014.
Gerry then thanked the steering committee of Molly Reynolds, Jim Brennan, John
Barron, Orla Leydon (consultant) and all the people who provided venues. He also
thanked Geraldine Mc Gill and Martin Doyle for their diligent administration. Gerry said
that the focus in 2015 was on Farm Safety and Profit. Also emphasis would be placed on
running more of the courses which proved successful in 2014. He said the total value of
the project is €270,000.00. Use of pesticides and Sprayer calibration would also be much
in demand in 2015. Gerry spoke about the MED Website and asked everybody to use it
more. Jim Brennan then thanked Gerry for all his work throughout the year.
Election of Committee
Jim asked for anyone who was interested in joining the committee to put their names
forward. Molly Reynolds said if there were any ladies interested that they would be very
welcome. The election of the old committee en block was proposed by John Ovens and
seconded by Terence Ward. This was supported unanimously by the meeting.
Cattle Committee Report
Gerry Gallagher on behalf of Jeremy Mc Gonigle (who was unable to attend) gave a
comprehensive overview of the 2014 AI scheme. He also gave a detailed report of the
MED Autumn Cattle Sale on the 7th October 2014. He said that it was another great
success although numbers were down due to bovine TB in the MED area.
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He gave an outline of the 2015 AI scheme and said it was launched at a meeting on the
night of Tuesday 27/01/2015 in the MED Offices. It is open to members in the North and
South. He outlined the changes made to the AI Scheme format this year and thanked the
sponsor of the AI scheme, Progressive Genetics, the AI Technicians and Ballyshannon
Mart. He asked members to submit any information they had on the calves born as the
societies were looking for this information he also asked if anyone had heifers for sale
from the maternal bulls to contact the office.
Northern Ireland Programmes
Francis Flanagan gave a report on the Northern Ireland programmes. He spoke about the
Farm visit of a group of Fermanagh farmers to a variety of farms down the country. He
said that this was an interesting and informative event. He also pointed out that MED had
an option to host a “Farmsafe” event in 2015 if members were interested. He also
informed the meeting that sponsorship from the Vaughan Trust to promote a Safety
Initiative had been applied for. Jim thanked Francis for his contribution during the year.
Small Grants Scheme
Gerry Gallagher spoke about the small grants scheme and said 33 members participated
21 in the South and 12 in the North, the average payment was €150 and a total payment
of €4,397 was paid out. He said new options were being considered for 2015 because of
Dept of Agriculture and DARD grants.
AOB
The committee member of the year prize the “Frank O Kelly Cup” was presented to Pat
Johnston by Jim Brennan. Jim commended Pat for all his hard work on behalf of MED.
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Jim then introduced Barry Hyland AIB Agri financial advisor and Gay Mc Goldrick from
AIB Ballyshannon who gave a presentation on farm finance.
Keynote Speaker:
Jim then introduced Brian Chittick from Saliis who gave a presentation on Solar Power.
Jim concluded by asking the members to attend the meetings for the AI scheme and
support MED as much as possible.
He thanked Gerry, Geraldine, Martin, the MED Committee, everyone who attended the
AGM, and Jean & Andrea who provided the tea.
He also thanked the Wark Hall committee for their hospitality.
He then closed the meeting.
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