The ICMSA celebrates 75 years in existence this month and to celebrate, we include a special ICMSA-focused section featuring interviews, contributions and some wonderful picture-led spreads showcasing the association and its members since its founding. Irish Farmers Monthly editor, Matt O’Keeffe interviews ICMSA president, Denis Drennan in which he discusses the imprint of the association on the Irish dairy sector and Irish rural life over the decades; ICMSA general secretary, John Enright, writes about the key agri-events that the association has lived and worked through, and the significance of the association for its members; and with a European perspective, chair of the European Milk Board – of which the ICMSA is its Irish constituent – Kjartan Poulsen says without farmers’ voices like those of the ICMSA, ‘a viable agricultural future would be unthinkable’.
Irish Farmers Monthly has had a long and proud association with the ICMSA spanning more than 40 years. Irish Farmers Monthly publisher, David Markey, in his foreword, writes: “I have had the privilege of working in partnership with ICMSA since 1980. This came about when I met the late former president, Sean Kelly and the late general secretary, Donal Murphy in Buswells Hotel in Dublin. Sean and Donal saw an opportunity to promote ICMSA policy through regular contributions to Irish Farmers Monthly. We saw it as an opportunity to increase our circulation to the dairy industry. After months of discussion, we finally agreed on a package that suited both parties.”
He continues: “Our collaboration over the years has been one of mutual respect. In the five decades of publishing Irish Farmers Monthly, and 45 years’ carrying the ICMSA newsletter, I have enjoyed the journey, and I look forward to continuing our relationship into the future.”