Teagasc has appointed two new advisory regional managers. Dr Siobhan Kavanagh is the new regional manager for the Wicklow/Carlow/Wexford region and Tom Kellegher is the new regional manager for the Roscommon/Longford region. The appointments were approved by the Teagasc Authority at their meeting in Dublin, 2 July. The Teagasc advisory service to farmers is led by 12 regional managers.
The two vacancies arise following the retirement of John Keating and the untimely death of Oliver Burke earlier this year.
Dr Siobhan Kavanagh is currently the Ruminant Nutrition Specialist with Teagasc. A native of County Wexford and currently living in County Kilkenny, she qualified with a B.Agr.Sc, M.Agr.Sc and PhD from University College Dublin and holds a Diploma in Farm Financial Management from Waterford Institute of Technology.
She has worked as a Ruminant Nutrition Specialist with Teagasc since January 2001. Siobhan has developed nutritional programmes that deliver sustainable growth, efficiency, competitiveness and profitability on dairy and drystock farms. She played the lead role in the management of the Teagasc response to the national fodder crisis in 2012/2013 and has provided training and technical support to the feed industry.
Tom Kellegher is from Currin, Ballyconnell, in County Cavan. He joined Teagasc in 1998 as a horticultural development officer providing technical support to the mushroom industry in Ireland and the UK. He currently manages the Teagasc contract with Commercial Mushroom Producers (CMP) and has played a lead role in assisting CMP in managing a Producer Organisation (PO) of substantial value to the mushroom industry annually.
He graduated from University College Dublin with a B.Agr.Sc and worked with Killeshandra Co-op (now Lakeland Dairies) and as a technical adviser in Monaghan Mushrooms prior to joining Teagasc. While with Teagasc, he has developed a Mushroom Harvester Training Programme which is FETAC accredited, to upskill those working in the mushroom industry.
Congratulating Siobhan Kavanagh and Tom Kellegher on their appointments, Teagasc Director Prof Gerry Boyle said: “We are fortunate to have people of the calibre of Siobhan and Tom to lead the Teagasc advisory and regional education service for farmers in these two regions. The local support for implementation of the measures in the newly reformed CAP on farms, meeting the increased demand for educational courses and leading the transfer of technology onto farms, is the immediate priority as producers grow and develop their businesses in these regions.”
