Ear to the Ground visits Michael O'Leary at Gigginstown

The RTÉ programme Ear to the Ground is to feature a segment on the farming interest of Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary on this week’s episode, which goes out on RTÉ One at 7pm, this Thursday, February 15.

While known worldwide for his aviation career, the Westmeath man also owns one of the nation’s largest pedigree Aberdeen Angus herds at his Gigginstown Farm near Delvin.

Ear to the Ground journalist Maeve Dineen accompanied Michael for a day, to find out why being a farmer is still so important to him, where he sees farming going in the future and how he squares the circle when it comes to being connected with the two areas under most focus in the drive to reduce emissions and meet climate targets.

Cavan

During the same episode, the show’s Ella McSweeney visits Brid Torrades, who tends to her inherited herd of Dexter cattle near Ballyjamesduff.

When Brid received a call from her late uncle’s solicitor informing her of her inheritance – a 40-acre farm in Cavan – she was taken aback. However, despite her urban background, Brid chose to seize the opportunity, transitioning into the role of a beef farmer, and she incorporates her stock’s meat into the menu of the café she owns in Sligo.

Darragh McCullough, meanwhile, heads to Shercock, also in Cavan, to interview dairy farmer Gerry O’Reilly on the opening day of the slurry spreading season. Gerry eagerly anticipates this day as his slurry tanks have reached their limit.

During the interview, Darragh asks just what effect climate change and the extreme rainfall it brings contributes to slurry storage problems for farmers.