There's hopes that a farm safety event that was hosted in a Co Monaghan school today could be rolled out on a national level.
The local event aimed at improving pupils' awareness surrounding farm safety.
The day-long event at St Daigh’s National School in Inniskeen comes as one of the busiest times on farms gets under way.
Its message to pupils is: 'The farmyard is not a schoolyard'. A number of different agencies including paramedics, community gardaí, local farmers and representatives from farm safety educational platform, AgriKids, along with Co Monaghan fire service are involved.
In January of this year, school teacher Niamh Monahan suffered a devastating loss on her family farm when five of her pedigree sheep were attacked by dogs. Among those lost were four pregnant ewes carrying nine unborn lambs, and one breeding ram. This horrific incident wiped out 25% of the her breeding flock,
As a primary school teacher and part-time farmer, this tragedy sparked many conversations with fellow farmers about the responsibilities of animal ownership and the growing importance of farm safety. In response, she along with fellow teacher Aisling Kelly organised a Farm Safety Day in their school.
Aisling says the initiative could potentially save lives on farms across the country.
