Does a happy farm make for a happy marriage?

This was the tongue-in-cheek question put to Deirdre Hynes by Damien O’Reilly at the Aurivo dairy and succession seminar in Claremorris on Monday evening last.

However, the unflappable Hynes never missed a beat in answering.

“I think so. Well, we have two lovely little small boys now,” said Hynes, who was sharing the podium with her husband Bryan.

“This spring will be different to last spring, it’s always changing. But it’s great flexibility. You can drop your job if you need to and go and get the kids. And it’s nice to be your own boss,” she explained.

Interestingly, Bryan Hynes said the couple were happy with their farming operation at the moment – which involves milking 250 cows in north Clare and south Galway.

While Hynes conceded that they “would never say never” to further expansion, he said they were currently “close to where they wanted to be” as a couple in terms of their work-life balance.