Ulster Farmers’ Union President Ian Marshall has led a delegation from the Farm Safety Partnership to meet with Ulster GAA President Martin Mc Aviney and Provincial Director Danny Murphy.
The meeting explored the possibility of the GAA coming on board to promote the message of farm safety and encourage farmers to stop and think about their safety and the safety of others before carrying out any job on farm.
Accompanying the UFU President was UFU Deputy President Barclay Bell, HSENI Deputy Chief Executive Bryan Monson, and UFU Policy Officer David Mc Conaghy.
Speaking after the meeting, UFU President Ian Marshall said: "I am extremely encouraged by the willingness of the GAA to get on board and help promote the message of farm safety. It's clear that they are very serious about this issue and their commitment to rural communities will hopefully mean that they will be an invaluable ally in helping to shift farmers and their families towards a more ‘stop and think SAFE’ mind-set.”
HSENI Deputy Chief Executive Bryan Monson added: “I warmly welcome the GAA’s interest in supporting the Farm Safety Partnership’s ‘Stop and Think SAFE’ campaign. GAA clubs are the hub of activity in many of our rural communities and to have such a great sporting institution on board to promote farm safety would be a massive boost to the ongoing work to reduce death and injury on our farms.”
Ian concluded: "On behalf of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, and of the Farm Safety Partnership, I would like to thank both Martin and Danny for meeting with us. We look forward to working closely with them and the GAA in an attempt to develop a culture of safety- first on local farms with the aim of significantly reducing work-related deaths and injuries."
