The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has presented cheques to four young farming students under its John Feely Scholarship programme.

The four winners of the 2024 scholarships were presented with their individual cheques for €1,500 at a reception at the ICMSA's headquarters in Limerick on Friday (February 21).

The organisation's head office, as with the scholarship, is also named in honour of one the ICMSA's early leaders, John Feely.

The successful students were Tommy Ryan from Doon, Co. Limerick; Lydia McGrath from Midleton, Co, Cork; Andrew Graham from Gorey, Co. Wicklow; and Cian Commons from Navan, Co. Meath.

The four recipients were drawn from a large entry, and all four travelled to John Feely House to receive their cheques.

Denis Drennan, the ICMSA's president, appealed to the young farming students to "stay in contact" with the organisation.

He urged the students to "engage with their fellow farmers through responsible groups who could analyse and help bring forward the solutions that would allow their own future generations of Irish farmers to thrive".

The John Feely Scholarship is open to sons and daughters of ICMSA members engaged in their first year of studying farming or specified farm-related courses at accredited institutions or colleges.

A scholarship is reserved for each of the ICMSA's four regions, and nominations must be made by a member and submitted between September and the organisation's annual general meeting (AGM), which is usually held in late November or early December.

The scholarships are then typically awarded within the first quarter of the year.

In other ICMSA news, the organisation has welcomed the European Commission’s new Vision for Agriculture and Food, but said that “actions will decide” its outcomes.

The ICMSA said that the new strategy appeared to signal a “step change” in EU farm policy.

However, ICMSA president Denis Drennan said that the success or otherwise of the vision would depend on the policy actions that follow.

“The positive sentiments must be turned into real action at farm level,” he said.

“There’s an acknowledgment of what has been obvious to farmers for years; that the agriculture sector is suffering, and that the sector is of huge strategic significance for the EU," Drennan added.