Limerick woman to become 39th Macra na Feirme president
Elaine Houlihan
Limerick woman Elaine Houlihan has been announced as the 39th Macra na Feirme president.
At the close of nominations on March 1, Macra received one nomination for the role of president for the term 2023-2025.
With only one candidate - Ms Houlihan - there will be no presidential election this year.
Ms Houlihan is a physiotherapist from Athlacca in Co Limerick, with Kilmallock Macra her home club.
She was brought up on a beef farm and her family also runs an agricultural engineering business.
She is the current Munster vice-president within Macra and she will be declared as president-elect on April 5.
She will take over the position from John Keane on May 13 at Macra's AGM.
Ms Houlihan told the she is "extremely excited" about the role.
"I think there is so much our organisation has to offer people in rural communities, and getting that message out is going to be the huge thing," she said.
She said she is proud to be the second woman to lead the organisation, following in the footsteps of Catherine Buckley, who hailed from Co Cork and took on the role in 2007.
Ms Houlihan said she hopes to be an example for young women and show that in agriculture, "anything is possible once you put your mind to it".
The 27-year-old said it is also important to show people that "it's grand that I'm not a full-time farmer".
"I come from a farming background, I help out part-time on the farm, but I work as a physio. You don't have to be a full-time farmer to have a positive impact in the agriculture sector, I think that's something to really drive home, you just have to have passion - and that's the main thing," Ms Houlihan said.
When she first got involved in Macra nine years ago, she said she never imagined herself one day becoming the organisation's president.
"I went abroad and I studied in the Netherlands for four years, and I was back and over to Ireland and hopping in and out of Macra when I was home, if there was an event on I would go along," she said.
"It wasn't until I came back that I really needed Macra.
"My friends had moved on, my community had changed, I missed family events and small things, and I fell back into Macra and it embedded me back in my community and I made new connections. You don't realise you're making friendships for life when you're having the craic."
Some of her priorities as president include increasing Macra membership and the association's presence in rural areas by running numerous recruitment drives throughout the year, and also making members aware of the various Macra competitions that take place and making them "more accessible for all, no matter your ability".
"Being a physio, physical and mental well-being is also a huge part of my campaign as well. It's about encouraging people to get out and about and active, and that's something that can be done through national campaigns, and it's something that needs to be done at our age," she said.
She added that on the policy side, "it's about driving on and keeping our strong lobbying voice and creating an extremely strong voice for rural Ireland".
