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The tragedy in Creeslough, Co Donegal has made us all hold our loved ones closer. A moment in time changed the lives of 10 families and a community forever. There are no appropriate words to describe the horror that the people of Creeslough experienced. The views of the scene and the heroic response of the community and beyond has impressed the nation.
Yet, we know in our hearts that if it was our community we would step up too. The media spoke of farmers with machinery assisting in the recovery operation. That made it all the more poignant for the farming community, imagining our own machines being pressed into action. That is our Ireland and our way. We rally round and we support each other.
Their faces will stay in our minds. Their stories touch chords
The names of the 10 victims will be remembered – Leona Harper, Robert Garwe, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, Jessica Gallagher, James O’Flaherty, Martina Martin, Hugh Kelly, Catherine O’Donnell, James Monaghan and Martin McGill. Their faces will stay in our minds. Their stories touch chords.
Shauna, a little girl, got Tim right in the heart. He noted that her uniform was too big for her and her cardigan had ample room for her little arms to lengthen. Her mother or father was allowing for the next few years of growth and hoping to get at least two years out of the uniform. She will never need another uniform.
Each victim has a story, of a portion of life lived but many dreams and much living to be done that will now, not be realised. A particular life story resonates with us because of some common thread that binds us. A report said that Hugh Kelly was a farmer and construction worker. The farmer title immediately connects Hugh to our big farming community. My sincere sympathy to Hugh’s family and all the families of the victims.
My thoughts are also with the people that are injured. They will carry the emotional and physical scars for the rest of their lives. Their families and loved ones will support them.
Hope for the future, even if it is difficult, must be sustained. The best support we can give as a nation is to keep that hope alive.
Women and Agriculture Conference
We will have hope in abundance as we look forward to the Women and Agriculture Conference 2022. We are back and my heart gives a little flutter at the thought of seeing so many familiar faces in the one room again. We are different from our experience of the last two years but we are strong and looking to the future with hope. There will be plenty of surprises throughout the day.
We will discuss the issues around food and education and get ideas on how best to bridge the urban-rural divide. This is something we need to take seriously.
AnTaoiseach Micheál Martin TD will address us in the morning and then it will be down to business with the panel on financial planning chaired by Irish Farmers Journal’s Anne Finnegan.
I watched the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD performing on the week in politics last night. What a lady! A young and beautiful mother, expecting her second child; I am really looking forward to hearing how she does it all in the largely man’s world of politics. Caitriona Morrissey of the Irish Farmers Journal will chat to the minister. It will be a pleasure to hear them both.
Women’s health will feature in the afternoon when our own Maria Moynihan will chair a panel to discuss how we women can look after our health.
The Irish Farmers Journal’s Phelim O’Neill will chair a panel on food prices. It becomes more and more challenging to feed our families. We will be looking for analysis and guidance.
What would Dermot Bannon say about my home, I wonder? I’d love to know. No doubt, we’ll be returning from the conference full of ideas from Ireland’s much loved architect.
We will have a special piece where we remember women we have lost from previous conferences. There will be a remembrance book where you can write your thoughts of someone who died since we were last together in 2019. Have a think about it. It feels a long time. We will remember together.
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