Meath sisters vie for Macra leadership award

Moynalty Macra members Patricia McKenna and Anne Marie Kavanagh from Kells have made it to the final six of Macra na Feirme"s National Leadership Awards. Sponsored by Bank of Ireland, the awards are organised as part of Macra"s Leadership Training Programme, which aims to provide opportunities for members to develop the knowledge, skills and attributes necessary for leadership positions either in Macra or in other voluntary roles or future occupations. Six finalists have been chosen to go through to this year"s national final, and three overall winners will be announced at the national final at the Bank of Ireland Business Banking Headquarters in Dublin on Wednesday, 21st January. Anne-Marie Kavanagh now lives in Ballivor. Since joining Macra in 2002, she has held numerous club and county positions such as secretary, treasurer and PRO. She has taken many county and regional titles in public speaking, impromptu public speaking, debating, volleyball, question time and bowling. She also represented Meath as the Miss Macra competition in 2007, when she was the Meath Macra Person of the Year. Anne-Marie is involved in numerous Macra initiatives such as the ESB Customer Supplier Know Your Neighbour Weekend. She has received three Bank of Ireland Gold Leadership awards and, in 2005, she was one of the Macra representatives at the European Rally in Latvia. In her local community, Anne-Marie has been involved in coaching choirs and musical groups and she is involved in the Steam Threshing Festival. Patricia McKenna joined Macra in 2003 and has held many positions such as PRO and secretary at both club and county level. She is a member of the Blue Jean Country Queen Festival Committee and Macra"s Rural Youth Initiative National Subcommittee. Patricia has helped organise many events, such as the 60th anniversary of Meath Macra. She also represented Macra at the English and Welsh Young Farmers Conference and won a silver National Leadership Award in 2006. In 2005, Patricia won the Meath Macra Person of the Year and in 2004 and 2005 she won the Meath Macra Club PRO of the Year. She is also a member of the Meath Diocese Choir which has travelled to Lourdes and Rome and she has participated in and trained others for the community games. Patricia and Anne-Marie along with the other four competitors have gone through a long process of activates and interviews to reach this point. Travel bursaries worth €2,000 will be presented to the three overall award winners on the day. The event will take place in Bank of Ireland offices on Mespil Road in Dublin, when the former director general of the GAA, Ashbourne"s Liam Mulvihill, will address Macra members on the theme of leadership. Macra na Feirme national president Cathriona Buckley highlighted the importance of leadership training among young people especially in today"s economic climate, and expressed her thanks to sponsors Bank of Ireland Business Banking. Ms Buckley says how much she, along with the members of Macra, are looking forward to hearing Mr Mulvihill speak at the event.