Introduction

Macra na Feirme was founded in 1944, by a rural science teacher called Stephen Cullinan. Its purpose was to provide young farmers with adequate training to ensure their livelihood and to provide an outlet for socialising in rural areas.

Since then over 250,000 young people have passed through the ranks of Macra na Feinne. Much has of course changed since those early days, young people have different priorities now and need new challenges, which Macra today tries to provide.

Currently Macra na Feirme has 8,000 members in 300 clubs. A quarter of the membership are farmers, with males making up 60% of the membership and females 40%.

Macra is a democratic organisation and every member is entitled to air their opinions at club, regional and national level.

Macra na Feirme's mission statement -

Macra na Feirme is committed to the personal, social and vocational development of young people throughout Ireland and through this, to contribute to agricultural, rural and community development.

·    Assisting the personal development of rural youth

·    Promoting social and cultural education among rural youth

·    Providing opportunities for learning the skills and theories of farming

·    Widening the interests of rural youth by increasing their general knowledge

· Encouraging leadership in preparation for responsible roles in fanning and in the community.

How to use this site-

Every Macra club faces two major challenges -

1.   Recruitment of new members and the retention of existing members.

2.   To provide a balanced, challenging and participative programme to ensure your members get involved, stay involved, re-affiliate next year and develop their leadership skills.

This site is a resource for all club members. It will provide them with more knowledge of what Macra is really about and encourage them to become more involved and perhaps to become future leaders.