Majella’s role advocates on behalf of Irish dairy farmers, working to bridge the gap between consumer understanding and the practices committed to by Irish dairy producers. Her role within the National Dairy Council alongside the team is dedicated to safeguarding Irish dairy’s international reputation and promoting its social license to produce.

Raised on a farm in County Leitrim, earning a Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Nursing, specialising in large animals, from Dundalk IT, she was named National Irish Veterinary Nurse Student of the Year in 2015 alongside the overall Enterprising student of the year by the business school for demonstrating leadership and entrepreneurship serving the farming community.

She earned Professional Masters in Business from the Irish Management Institute, Dublin/University College Cork Business School, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Sustainable Agriculture – DKIT /Ballyhaise Agriculture college and a National Business Scholarship from the Global 30% Club in 2021.

As Farm Development Manager at LacPatrick Dairies, she advised farmers on enhancing business efficiency and profitability. She later took on a position with Lakeland Dairies NI before becoming Farm Profitability Specialist with Aurivo Co-operative.

Majella has led programs for young farmers, herd health and women in agriculture, guiding three farms to win the NDC and Kerrygold Milk Quality Awards. She was also a lead in the Teagasc ASAP program and has represented cooperatives and shareholders in national programs, including Animal Health Ireland.

She has worked with various industry stakeholders to develop strategies driving supplier and consumer engagement, fostering cultural change within the dairy sector.

Majella’s chosen topic, ‘Evaluating the Dairy Supply Chain: Linking Production Efficiency to Consumer Behaviour and Market Trends’ will look at analysing the dairy supply chain, focusing on how production efficiency relates to consumer behaviour, market trends, and cultural influences. Her study will provide actionable insights for industry stakeholders to adapt to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics.

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As a 2025 Nuffield Ireland Scholar, Zoe’s research topic “Future Grasslands for Climate Adaptation: What are the options for Ireland?” aims to evaluate grassland strategies to adapt to climate change and increase the sustainability of Ireland’s grass-based production systems.

Zoe grew up in the farming community of Ballyfin Co. Laois and now lives in Ballina Co. Mayo with her partner Michael where they are dairy farming.

Zoe graduated with a BAgrSc in 2015 and completed her PhD in dairy production in 2019, both from University College Dublin (UCD) Ireland.

She is currently an Assistant Professor of Grass and Forage Science in the School of Agriculture and Food Science in UCD. Within this role Zoe is the Programme Director for the undergraduate degree programme Sustainable Food Systems and leads a grassland research programme at UCD Lyons Farm. Additionally, Zoe is secretary to the board of Dairy Women Ireland.

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Seamus was brought up on a suckler and sheep farm in Castlederg, West Tyrone and this instilled in him a passion for agriculture. He now lives in County Monaghan with his wife Charlotte and their four young children.

He graduated from Queens University Belfast with a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Sustainable Rural Development and Project Management. In his earlier career he was employed by the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC) in various capacities and most recently has taken on the role of Sector Manager for Sheepmeat and Livestock for Bord Bia, while also assisting colleagues in supporting the Irish Beef sector. He is also the red meat representative on the advisory committee of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) in Northern Ireland.

As a 2025 Nuffield Ireland Scholar, Seamus’ research topic “Exploring diversification opportunities that compliment sheepmeat production to address issues around generational renewal” aims to identify alternative income streams that can operate in tandem, and complement, sheep production in order to help stabilise the Irish sheep flock and attract new entrants into the sector.

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Marina from Co.Sligo is a well-known voice and strong female leader in forestry in Ireland. During her tenure in Western Forestry Co-op, she established Ireland’s first Woodland Festival, the largest Native Woodland Park, and the first pioneer birch woodland.

She is a regular contributor to radio, print media, and television including most recently Faraway Fields on RTE where she lived with an Indigenous tribe in Brazil.

Marina graduated from UCD with a degree and Masters in Agricultural Science specialising in Forestry, as well as receiving qualifications in environmental auditing, training and water pollution control. Marina has worked in the public sector, private sector and ran her own company. She is the former CEO of Western Forestry Co-op and worked internationally in Government in New Zealand on Forestry in the Emissions Trading Scheme. Marina has spent the majority of her career in farm forestry, her passion is for farmers, farm families and communities being at the centre of our national forestry policy and that our forests are best served in local and rural ownership. She has spent her career providing motivation, information, organisation and management services to create widespread engagement in sustainable forest management to include afforestation, native woodland management, community woodlands and harvesting in all aspects of farm forestry. She has participated in national committees on forestry including been appointed by the Minister to Project Woodland, the Forestry Strategy Implementation Group and Ministerial Forestry Programme Implementation Group amongst others.

Marina’s chosen topic is “Unlocking the Potential of Agroforestry in an Irish context. Policy and Practice”. Marina believes that agroforestry has huge potential in Ireland, allowing farmers to integrate trees into their existing farming systems, however as a relatively new enterprise, with many unknowns, uptake has been low and so she aims to look to more established agroforestry systems internationally to garner experiences.

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