24 April 2020
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Certified Irish Angus announce Cork school as one of five finalist groups chosen for popular schools competition
The Irish beef brand ‘Certified Irish Angus’ have announced that students from Boherbue Comprehensive School, Co Cork are one of five school groups who have been chosen to rear five Irish Angus calves for 18 months as part of its unique schools competition.
Boherbue is in North County Cork, West of Mallow. It’s 1h 10mins away from Cork City and is quite close to the County Kerry Border. Agriculture is important in its rural economy.
The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition, run in association with processing partners ABP and Kepak, aims to encourage second-level students to gain an understanding about the care and attention that is required to produce and market the highest quality Irish Angus beef for consumers.
The announcement comes after a competitive application process, whereby student groups vying to take part in the competition presented their original project ideas to a panel of judges comprised of agri-food industry professionals at a recent high-profile exhibition at Croke Park, Dublin.
Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition 2020.
Pictured are Amy Walsh, David Kenny and Rachel Breen from Boherbue Comprehensive School, Mallow Co Cork.
Photo Chris Bellew / Fennells
Amy Walsh, David Kenny and Rachel Breen from Boherbue Comprehensive School, in Boherbue Co. Cork were revealed as one of the five finalists of this year’s competition. The students presented a proposed project idea which explored the docility of the Irish Angus breed. The Cork group join students from Mercy Secondary School, Ballymahon; Gorey Community School, Wexford; Carrick-On-Shannon Community School, Leitrim and The Abbey School, Tipperary Town as the successful applicants for this year’s competition.
Speaking about the finalists, Charles Smith, General Manager, Certified Irish Angus said, “We are thrilled to announce our finalists for the competition this year, despite the schools being closed at this time. It is great to have a representation from enthusiastic students all across the country. The finalist groups have been selected from more than thirty-five school groups who exhibited their project ideas at our Croke Park event. The standard of applicants this year was exceptional, and it was a tough decision to choose just five finalists! We are very much looking forward to watching these finalist groups progress in the competition over the next 18 months”.
The five groups will each receive five Irish Angus calves in September, which they will rear for 18 months. In addition to rearing the calves, the students will complete a research project linked to the senior-cycle Agricultural Science curriculum which focusses on a particular aspect of farming and beef production. The individual project themes will be announced when the groups receive their calves in September.
The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition aims to allow students to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom to a real-life setting. Each of the finalists will receive the financial benefit involved in the selling of the animals to the processors on completion of the project. The winning students also receive an additional grant of €2,000 for their further education.
For further information on the project visit www.certifiedirishangus.ie
