UN recognition for Galway farmer
Blátnaid Gallagher to be honoured in Rome
A GALWAY farmer who has been at the forefront of promoting Irish wool as a sustainable and valuable product in recent years has received unique UN recognition as one of 100 women heroes worldwide.
Blátnaid Gallagher keeps pedigree Galway Sheep at her Murray Meadows mixed farm near Aughrim in East Galway and has been selected as one of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations’ 100 Women Heroes for International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Blátnaid was chosen out of more than 600 nominations from 131 countries, and will be honoured at an awards ceremony in Rome in October.
The driving force behind the establishment of the Galway Wool Co-op, which is made up of Galway Sheep breeders, Blátnaid Gallagher has been involved with other projects such as FLIARA, which examines the role of women in sustainable agricultural practices.
“Ursula Kelly [from Tuam] and myself have been ambassadors for Ireland for the last two years with FLIARA, going to events abroad and speaking on subjects such as rural diversification,” said Blátnaid, who also sits on the Galway Rural Development (GRD) evaluation board.
“From our experience, women are driving rural diversification all over Europe, involved at all levels of business.
“Some people might call it ‘softer agriculture’, but if that’s softer agriculture, if that’s what it takes to keep agriculture sustainable in rural areas, then women should be recognised a little more, I think.
“Women make up 30 per cent of the people involved in agriculture in Ireland, but there’s less than 13.5 per cent recognised as herd or farm owners. There have been three reports from the EU on the role women play in agriculture done in recent years – FLIARA, HER-SELF and GRASS CEILING.
“I’d like to see actions from those reports. We have the stats and the data. Many women work unpaid on the farm due to whatever marital circumstances they are in.
“Men and women should be rewarded equally for the work they do. I think there should be some sort of system or roadmap in place to ensure that non-paid female work on the farm doesn’t happen.”
Blátnaid Gallagher inherited her farm in 2016 from her uncle, where she produces wool and lamb on an organic holding.
The Galway Wool Co-op came about in 2019 as a means of trying to create a sustainable and valuable market for Irish wool. The annual Wool Meitheal of Galway Sheep, organised by the Galway Wool Co-op, was held in July in Athenry Mart, with farmers guaranteed a price of €2.50/kg for their wool.
“I’m very, very proud of the fact that Galway Sheep are Ireland’s native sheep breed and Ireland’s premier dual-purpose breed,” offered Blátnaid, who will travel to Rome with her husband Niall.
“There’s been a lot of investment in dual-purpose breeding. They are sheep that traditionally produce fibre and meat.
“We had four buyers for the wool at this year’s Meitheal. It’s started a process to ensure that the farmers involved will be paid and recognised for the wool they produce.”
Blátnaid Gallagher will be project manager for the WoolCirc project that will be supported by funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe funding and research programme.
The project will see participants, selected from members of the Galway Wool Co-op, being involved to take part in field trials, living labs and knowledge transfer training.
“It will look at things like off-farm fibre production, how to improve the quality of wool, the genetics that can be used to produce the best quality of wool,” said Blátnaid.
“It will probably start in early 2027. It’s the first Horizon project to look at wool production and fibre production in Ireland.”