Meet the finalists in the Student of the Year Competition

The Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year awards will be announced at an awards ceremony on the evening of May 9th 2023.

The cermony will be streamed live on the day. Register in advance to view the cermony live here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Read more about our 2022 Student of the Year Finalists below.

Amanda Draper

Amanda comes from Cork and has graduated with distinction on both Level 5 and Level 6 in Equitation at Teagasc. Kildalton College. Amanda began working with horses from a young age which inspired her to develop her career in the equine industry. Kildalton College was the perfect fit, offering Amanda a practical and hands on approach. The courses gave her the opportunity to refine and develop her riding, handling and management skills. Amanda has since completed the International British Horse Society coaching qualification and has been offered a full time position as an international groom.

Ryan Dolan McGovern

Ryan McGovern from Co. Cavan completed the Level 6 in Drystock Management at Teagasc, Ballyhaise College. He choose to do this course from the recommendations of past students who had told him it was a perfect fit for him. During the course, Ryan was nominated as the Level 6 Drystock Student of the Year within Ballyhaise. Ryan has been nominated as our Agricultural Student of the Year due to his positive contribution to the course combined with excellent academic achievements on the modules throughout.

Hanna Sheerin

Hanna from Co. Wicklow completed the Distance Education course in Kildalton College in 2021. Hanna was motivated to do this course to increase her knowledge and confidence on the farm and really enjoyed the practical hands-on nature of the course. Hannah is centrally involved in the new sheep’s milk enterprise along with her husband George on Ballyhubbock Farm in the Glen of Imaal where they milk East Friesian ewes and produce ice-cream, Halloumi, milk and Kefir products. Hannah managed to balance work, family and study, during Covid restrictions and still contribute positively to her course

Owain Buttimer

Owain is from Rosscarbery in Co. Cork and completed the Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture – Dairy Herd Management at Teagasc Clonakilty College. Owain was engaged, interested and inquisitive during his time on the course and was involved in activities such as fundraising events in the college. Owain gained a lot of valuable experience on placement and his placement hosts were very complimentary of him

Meghan England

Meghan moved to Ireland from Australia almost 6 years ago to farm and despite coming from a farming background, learned quickly that farming in Ireland was quite different to what she was used to. Meghan wanted to learn how to farm efficiently and sustainably, so she chose to do the Green Cert in Teagasc, Midleton. The course has allowed Meghan to refresh her basic agricultural knowledge and upskill herself to become a capable Irish farmer and a partner in their farming business. Her future goals are to build-up a successful Dairy Beef enterprise to complement their current operations.

Jathan McMahon

Jathan grew up on a dairy farm in Co. Clare and is a keen hurler for his local club and his county. He joined Gurteen College in 2020 to complete the Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture - Dairy Herd Management. Attracting him to this course was his love for farming and also Gurteens excellent facilities and high quality lecturers. Jathan is passionate about farming and is driven to returning to the home farm in Clonlara to farm alongside his grandfather. Jathan’s goal is to expand his knowledge of farming to the fullest extent possible, so that he can become the best farmer he can be.

Ellen Vaughan

Ellen hails from a dairy farm in Co. Meath and works part-time on the farm along with being a fulltime teacher. Ellen completed the Level 6 Distance Green Cert at Teagasc, Navan, Co. Meath as she wanted to become more confident in the everyday running of the farm and really look at the science behind farming. The course helped Ellen to become more familiar with the business aspect of running a farm and the key drivers of profit. Ellen was noted for her exceptional attention to detail during the course and her deep knowledge of both the husbandry and technical aspects of farming.

Gavin McGarrigle

Gavin hails from Ballyshannon in Co. Donegal and has completed the Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture (Dairy Herd Management) in Mountbellew Agricultural College. Gavin has extensive knowledge of many different aspects of agriculture and also a very strong practical background from working on the dairy farm at home. Gavin rarely missed a day in the college despite traveling a distance each week. He was a very committed student always diligent in his approach with excellent critical abilities and presented his work on time and to a high standard for the duration of his time with us.

Laura Lynch

Laura comes from Athy, Co. Kildare and completed the Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificate in Farming (Distance) at Teagasc, Mullingar. Laura was an excellent student from day one and never missed a class, got stuck into practicals and always got involved in discussion. Her results reflected the hardwork she put into the course. Her work ethic didn’t slow down even when she gave birth to her baby near the end of the course

Paul Dineen

Paul is from Co. Cork and arrived in Pallaskenry after completing Level 5 in Clonakilty Agricultural College. He went on to complete the Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture (Mechanisation) in Pallaskenry and as part of his major project made a unique Elephant Trunk Round Bale Handler, using only recycled materials from the home farm. Paul completed his work placement in Atkins Farm Machinery Garage in Cork.

Prabhjit Singh

Prabhjit was born in India and grew up on a farm with many generations before him farming the land so has an instinctive love for plants, animals and nature. Prabhjit completed a Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Horticulture (Nursery Stock Production) in Botanic Gardens and is now doing a Level 7 BSc in Horticulture with Botanics and SETU. Outside of class, Prabhjit is a seed collector, and passionate about propagation and exotic seeds. Prabhjit wants to continue to Level 8 and in the future would like to teach horticulture.

Michael Mulry

Michael comes from Tuam, Co. Galway and completed the Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificate in Farming (Part-Time) in Teagasc Athenry. Michael brought an energy to the small class group in his technical ability, stockmanship and willingness to discuss what we were covering in class, often bringing new topics to the discussion which we all learned from. He was also a supportive class mate encouraging the other students to participate in the lighter side of things such as the purchase of a Limousin heifer by the group to raffle for their chosen charity.

Niall Gillespie

Niall hails from Ballina, Co. Mayo and excelled through the Green Cert course which he completed at Teagasc Ballina. Niall saw the Green Cert as a way of developing his skills and an opportunity to learn new techniques and ideas. He found the course to be a brilliant way of meeting liked minded people who came together to help each other overcome different challenges and solutions on farms. The course has enabled Niall to develop his farm and his career in a positive way and Niall has applied what he has learned to his home farm.

Tim Crowley

Tim comes from Mallow, Co. Cork and completed a Level 6 Green Cert part-time in Macroom, Co. Cork. Tim chose to do this course to give himself the knowledge to approach farming in a sustainable and efficient manner while learning skills that he could apply to improve his own farm. The part-time Green Cert course was the perfect choice for Tim as he could keep his day job while studying at night. His future plans are to improve breeding for better protein and solids and focus more on reseeding to increase grass growth quantity and quality thus reducing chemical fertiliser.

Neil Furey

Neil farms with his parents and sisters in Bluestack country in Co. Donegal. Neil’s parents have a small suckler herd comprising of Lm x Ch x BB cows and lowland flocks that are Texel x Milford Charolaise and the farm itself is heavy and peaty. Now at the age of 25, Neil and his parents are in discussions about how to best manage his status as a young trained farmer: his mother has purchased land that will be transferred in to his name to avail of Stamp Duty Relief. In addition to this, they are investigating the possibility of a partnership being formed.

Fred Dolan

Fred is a suckler farmer in Roscommon and completed the Level 5 & Level 6 Certificate in Agriculture (Green Cert) at Teagasc Roscommon. He was motivated to do this course to put himself in a position to start a farm in his own right, with the knowledge his family had passed to him plus the modern knowledge and techniques the course would give him. The course has equipped Fred to farm more efficiently, sustainably and maintain a quality producing livestock farm. Fred choose Teagasc as their advisors are on farms every day of the week and have a wealth of knowledge on how farmers achieve results

Gearoid Kennedy

Gearoid from Kilkenny had an interest in forestry from a young age along with a passion for working outdoors & being in nature which led him to completing the Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Forestry at Ballyhaise Agricultural College. The forestry course offering the perfect combination of practical & theory based learning really attracted Gearoid to the course. Ballyhaise College proved to be a great learning environment for Gearoid and he immersed himself in all projects showing excellent leadership and motivational skills. Since graduating Gearoid continues to work in the forestry industry