Nuffield Ireland Conference 2024 ‘Shaping the Future of Irish Agriculture’
Image: 2023 Nuffield Scholars; Liagh Whelehan, Thomas Murray, Margaret Edgill, Bryan Daniels, Gillian Willis and David Fennelly at Nuffield Conference 2024
Shaping the Future of Irish Agriculture
Supported by our Premium Investor FBD Trust
Friday 14th November 2024
Mount Wolseley Hotel, Tullow, Co. Carlow
The theme of our 2024 conference describes the ambition of our Scholars and our Scholarship programme: it is no less than helping to shape agriculture to meet its multiplicity of missions and challenges.
Our six 2023 Scholars – Bryan Daniels, Margaret Edgill, David Fennelly, Thomas Murray, Liagh Whelehan and Gillian Willis – researched globally with the support of the Nuffield programme topics of direct and immediate relevance to Irish agriculture, each with a motivation to inform policy and practice to positively impact – shape – Irish agriculture.
The Scholars reported on subjects as diverse as optimising our grassland economic and environmental performance through clover and Nitrate surplus management; future proofing our farms from a people-management perspective; developing an agritourism policy that showcases our artisan food production; improving the sustainability of plant production in controlled environments; and the future for potato and vegetable production in the face of consumer trends, market and environmental challenges. Their presentations can be viewed below.
Our fantastic guest speaker, former MD of Glanbia Siobhán Talbot, in a fireside chat with 2019 Nuffield Scholar Karina Pierce, gave us candid insights into the professional challenges of leading her team and her diverse stakeholders in a complex organisation like Glanbia through an evolution towards two distinct organisations (Glanbia Plc and Tirlán Co-ops). She also very honestly approached the personal challenges of leadership, trying to balance work and family life, dealing with health challenges, and more.
We met our newly recruited 2025 Scholars Marina Conway, Majella McCafferty, Zoe McKay and Seamus McMenamin, and heard an update from our 2024 Scholars Nick Cotter, Molly Garvey, Niall Hurson, John Keane and Michael Martin who are halfway through their Nuffield Scholarship journey.
Finally, Nuffield Ireland announced it will be hosting the Nuffield International Triennial in May 2026, jointly with Nuffield Northern Ireland. Every three years, the event attracts upwards of 250 Nuffield alumni from all over the world for eight to ten days of alumni-only farm and agribusiness visits, including one day of major global agrifood conferencing open to all stakeholders. A short outline of the programme was presented by organising committee Co-Chair 2022 Scholar Aoife Feeney. This is a major undertaking for Nuffield Ireland. We have recruited an event organising company to support us, from securing accommodation, venues and transport to developing sponsorship packages to part-fund the event. With them, we have developed branding and visuals, a website and a promotional video, and have been promoting the event at Nuffield conferences around the world.
Download Full 2024 Nuffield Conference programme – click here
