We were deeply saddened to hear that the former director of CAFRE, Dr John Fay, passed away last Thursday 24 October 2024.

John was appointed as principal of Greenmount College in 1998 and went on to become CAFRE director in 2004 as part of a process that brought together Greenmount, Loughry and Enniskillen colleges under his management.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ulster in 2013 in recognition of his services to education in NI and an OBE in the New Year’s honours list in 2015 for services to agri food education.

John retired at the end of 2015 and subsequently served on the board of the Ulster Farmers’ Union. During his working life, John offered wise counsel, had great ability to analyse information and communicate with colleagues, students and farmers. He treated everyone he met with fairness and respect.

Our sincere condolences to Lesley, Rory, Erin and the wider family circle.

DW