Reflections on Nenagh school's quest to change culture on farm safety

Last Friday night's prize draw at Nenagh CBS represented the culmination of a campaign that began almost a year ago to change culture around farm safety.

If someone had said last September that a group of 16-year old students would change the conversations being had around farm safety in Ireland it would have beggared disbelief, but that is exactly what is after happening with five young men from St Joseph’s CBS. Under the guidance of their teachers Mr Paul Butler, Ms Michele Forde and Mr Paul Dolan, and with the support and encouragement of Deputy Principal Dermot Brislane and Principal Karen O’Donnell, five TY students - Patrick Quigley, Jack Gleeson, Paul Seymour, Micheal Ryan and Patrick Fogarty -set out to raise awareness on the increasingly important topic of farm safety. 

The aim was to do this through holding a tractor run with all proceeds going to Embrace Farm. It was attended and launched by Gareth Gault, AKA Donkey from Grassmen, who said it was so encouraging to see young people promote the message of safety on farms, as this will help to change the culture on working farms going forward.

The tractor run was a huge success and raised €7,000 at a well-attended presentation night in December. On this night, Pat Griffin of the HSA (and past pupil of the school) made a powerful slideshow presentation with photos and facts on the severity of farm accidents across Ireland and Europe. Each of the five students spoke about the reasons behind their campaign and how they went about organising the tractor run. 

Peter Gohery, farm accident survivor and Embrace Farm member spoke briefly, while Angela Hogan also an EmbraceFARM member spoke powerfully and emotively about the reality of losing a partner, not just the devastating emotional impact but the legal implications also, as they weren’t married at the time and had two children. 

As a result of both these events the students were nominated for a Garda Youth Award. They were worthy winners and attended an event in Templemore Garda College to collect this prestigious award last January.

 
While all of this had been going on, a plan had been formulating for a farm safety video to be made. Mr Butler took the boys out to their local farms and many hours and days were spent shooting, editing and tweaking this video until it was just right. 

It was certainly worth it, as to date the video has been viewed more than 266,000 times on YouTube! The success of this video has brought great attention to the campaign and the students and Mr Butler were interviewed on local and regional radio; it appeared in online articles and in the Irish Independent Farming Supplement and the Farmers Journal. It certainly grabbed everyone’s attention with RTE and Fran McNulty running a segment on the Six One News earlier in the summer. Pat Griffin of the HSA said it is the best farm safety video he has seen made and Tim Cullinan, President of the IFA, was so impressed that the IFA sponsored €5,000 in prize money to run a competition based on the video. People were asked five questions based on farm safety and what they watched in the video and all of this was done online.

Entrants came from the length and breath of the country so it certainly was a great way to get the message of farm safety out there! A draw took place last Friday in the school and was live streamed on the Embrace Farm Facebook page with 10 names pulled out to receive €500 each in prizes. 

This was a fantastic way to finish off what has truly been an incredible year for these five young men and the teachers involved. All the hours and days of hard work, all the enthusiasm and passion for making a positive change, all the coverage in local and national press has definitely paid off; more conversations are being had about safe farming and this is the greatest reward of all.

Below are some of the comments people left about the video:

"There is an element of genius in this video. Engaging for 15 minutes is unheard for a safety video."

"Should be viewed by all farming families."

"I had no idea that there were so many risks associated with farming. I will be making sure [my husband] watches this video." 

"Should be seen by all associated with farming."