It wasn’t quite the Oscar selfie, but a photo on Twitter of the agricultural session at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis was notable for one reason – the presence of Helen McEntee on stage among all the men. Last year, there was some criticism over the lack of any female presence in the farming forum.
It wasn’t quite the Oscar selfie, but a photo on Twitter of the agricultural session at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis was notable for one reason – the presence of Helen McEntee on stage among all the men.
Last year, there was some criticism over the lack of any female presence in the farming forum.
This year, the session, held on the main stage in the RDS on Saturday afternoon, saw McEntee join chair Sean Kelly, Simon Coveney, Tom Hayes, Andrew Doyle, Martin Heydon, Pat Deering, Tom Barry and Senators Michael Darcy and Michael Comiskey.
Mairead McGuinness, a notable absentee from this picture, was otherwise a constant presence throughout the two days.
Predictably, Minister Simon Coveney was praised to the rooftops for his performance, particularly where CAP reform was concerned.
Young farmers, GLAS and sugar beet were just some of the items discussed during the 90-minute session.
Simon Harris, Wicklow TD, was formally confirmed as Fine Gael’s third candidate for Ireland South.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: