Con Ryan is a champion among volunteers
Con Ryan, Glown, Upperchurch, Co Tipperary, was presented with the Paddy Fitzgerald Memorial Award and a €2,000 cheque at a dinner in Adare, Co Limerick.
The award was established 23 years ago by a Trust set up to commemorate Paddy Fitzgerald, Caherconlish, Co Limerick, a founder member of what is now the Irish Farmers Association.
Mr Fitzgerald, a former Munster vice president of the association, died 29 years ago but his contribution to rural Ireland is remembered every second year by the Memorial Trust, headed by John Dillon, the former IFA president.
Con Ryan was presented with the award by Fiona Muldoon, chief executive, FBD, sponsors since the inception of the competition, and also there to congratulated him was the current IFA president Joe Healy.
Tim Cullinan, chairman, Tipperary North IFA, which nominated Con for the award, described him as a true family man with a deep love of the land and a strong commitment to fellow farmers and to keeping his community vibrant.
Con Ryan’s story, as outlined in the nominating submission from Tipperary North IFA, is indeed reflective of a great generation of people who grew up in difficult economic times in rural Ireland, worked hard to develop their farms and yet found time to provide support and leadership in their own communities.
A powerful and passionate speaker, who was born in 1937, the eldest of a family of four boys, he had to finish his early education at 13 years of age due to the ill health of his aging father.
He worked with neighbouring farmers for £3 a week while trying to build up the family’s 60-acre farm of marginal land which carried four cows.
A heifer credit scheme created by the National Farmers Association and the banks helped him increase cow numbers. The scheme enabled allowed farmers with one third of the price of an in-calf heifer to borrow the remaining two-thirds from the bank.
Con married primary school teacher Mary Connolly in 1965, grew his cow numbers to 24 and bought land which was possible due to his wife’s salary and support. By the early 1970s he was milking 100 cows.
A progressive farmer, he embraced many new ideas with the help of agriculture adviser Hugh O’Hara.
One initiative was spreading bagged nitrogen which was frowned upon by many farmers at the time. Con and Mary, who have nine children, were always prominent in the life of the community.
His leadership was called upon in 1973 when Agriculture Minister Mark Clinton announced the disadvantaged area scheme for the 12 western counties.
The Sliabh Felim area, which takes in north and south Tipperary and east Limerick, was not included. A campaign to get the European Commission in Brussels to overturn the decision was launched.
Con was elected chairman of the IFA Rural Development Committee in North Tipperary and later headed the national committee.
Sliabh Felim was finally included in the scheme and an area payment was also secured for other areas around the country. Today, it is worth €205 million to almost 100,000 farmers.
After being involved in many IFA campaigns, Con devoted his time and energy towards something close to his heart - the survival of rural life in Upperchurch. He could see that proper services and amenities were required in order to retain the population.
A Community Development Council was set up in 1990, with Con as chairman. It organised a festival called “Ned of the hill” to raise funds and give the area a profile.
The committee began looking at a social housing scheme, having identified that many of its ageing community were living in remote and isolated areas.
Without these houses they would have had to leave their Upperchurch community and move into Thurles town.
With the support of St Vincent de Paul and other agencies, the Community Council built 11 houses for individuals and families. These are all now fully paid for and owned by the community.
The provision of a crèche was the next project tackled. Con was not a member of this committee as he was involved in other projects which would have created a conflict of interest.
However, his family’s generosity to the project is to be greatly admired, the Tipperary North IFA nominating submission states.
It explains that Con and his wife Mary purchased the old school house in the area on behalf of the committee for over £60,000. It was to be redeveloped for use as the crèche.
Approval hadn’t been received for grant aid at this time and it was later decided to build on a green field site.
Con and Mary resold the property for a massive £240,000 and gave the profits of €180,000 to the crèche committee. Surely a testament of their commitment to the community.
The promotion of hill walking in Upperchurch, his work as a FAS supervisor and as a Rural Recreation Officer for Tipperary, the development of Lough Derg walk and his leadership of local groups are all part of his legacy.
Con is quick to point out that the support of Leader for funding is a major factor in the development of many projects in Upperchurch where he is still hugely involved in community activities.
His involvement with the Self Help charity took him to Malawi on a charity walk. The fund raising target for each participant was €3,000 – Con raised €11,000.
After being presented with the Paddy Fitzgerald Award, he said he was humbled and honoured at being chosen. He paid tribute to the seven other nominees and thanked all who had helped him over the years.
But anything he had ever achieved, he said, would not have been possible without the help and support of his wife Mary.
