Lining out for dairy health
Rob and Dave Kearney have shown their athleticism with Leinster and Ireland, winning the Six Nations last year and taking the trophy back at a later stage to Louth, where their roots are deep.
The outdoor life and the wholesome food from the land are seen by nutritionists today as important to the growth and development of young people.
It was no surprise, then, when the National Dairy Council invited the Kearney brothers to become its ambassadors this year as it celebrates its golden jubilee.
The NDC plays a vital role in driving a sustainable dairy industry in Ireland and in educating consumers on the role of dairy in their lifestyles. The Kearney brothers feature in the NDC advertisement, ‘It All Starts Here’, which was filmed on the family farm where they regularly helped to harvest the crops, and at their local national school.
It highlights the fact that good eating and healthy lifestyle habits start when you’re young and that good nutrition begins with a balanced diet, including dairy products.
NDC chief executive Zoe Kavanagh describes the Kearney brothers as terrific role models in this regard, resonating with people of all ages.
“They bring together an established and a rising star of Irish sports — and are collectively an embodiment of balanced diet and active lifestyle,” she says.
Both have fitted in well with the NDC campaign that highlights the goodness of dairy products from quality pasture-based farming.
Their parents, David and Siobhan Kearney, run the farm at Willville, Carlingford, looking out over a beach to the Irish Sea and with the Mountains of Mourne in the background.
They had known each other from childhood as their parents were friends. She was from Dundalk town and getting used to living on a farm when they got married. It took a bit of adjusting.
The farm has changed and evolved a lot over the years. David’s great-grandfather, William Kearney, died in 1886 and his grandfather, JP Kearney, was an incredibly progressive and ambitious man who expanded the farmland and enterprise substantially in the 1930s.
David’s father Don ran a mixed farm with a beef suckler herd of cattle and also grew crops ranging from potatoes and sugar beet to onions, peas, and tomatoes. The small dairy on the farm was mainly used to provide milk for the family farm.
Now aged 61, David (Sr) has worked on the farm full-time since he was 22. It is now much more specialist, with a focus on tillage, mostly wheat and barley, which is sold to local grain stores. He gets support from contractors for ploughing, sowing and spraying where it is needed.
Early on, Rob and older brother Richard spent a fair share of their time on the rugby field sidelines supporting their dad, who lined out regularly with Dundalk and was the club’s fixtures secretary for some 20 years after he stopped playing competitively.
With one girl among a house full of boys, Siobhan and David spent a lot of time driving their children to play Gaelic football, rugby, golf, or tennis, with daughter Sara taking on sailing in Carlingford and also playing camogie.
Siobhan recalls “many windows broken” by footballs and golf balls. She says they were lucky to have so much outdoor space growing up on a farm.
“They were very energetic and competitive boys growing up. We needed to keep them occupied and active,” she says.
“In addition to the space on the farm, we were very lucky with the amount and variety of sports clubs in the area.”
Both Rob and Dave, who played Gaelic football with Cooley Kickhams, are completing their studies while playing rugby.
Rob finished his degree in pure economics and is working on a master’s while Dave is finishing his studies in business management.
Farming, meanwhile, remains a passion for their father, who says Irish farmers can compete with the best in the world.
“Celebrity chefs often talk about the quality of food produce in Ireland and they’re absolutely right. Whether it is beef or lamb, grain or milk, the quality of food produced in Ireland is 100%,” David says.
Rob and Dave saw that being showcased at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois,, which they attended as National Dairy Council ambassadors last September, and were greatly impressed.
“We’re proud of our farming roots and recognise the amount of hard work that goes behind producing the type of good quality food we have come to expect in Ireland,” according to Rob.
Younger brother Dave notes there is a growing interest in sports nutrition in professional and amateur sport.
“Whether you are playing a local schools match or as a professional sports person. it embodies the principales we apply in our everyday life on and off the field,” he says.
