New Member Appointed to Teagasc Authority

Margaret Sweeney has been appointed to the Teagasc Authority for a five year term by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Mary Coughlan TD. She fills the seat vacated by Anna May McHugh who has completed a five year term on the Teagasc Authority.

Margaret Sweeney is Chief Executive of Postbank, the community based bank. Margaret previously ran her own business consultancy company and was formerly chief executive of Aer Rianta and a director with KPMG. A native of Donegal, Margaret is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the National University of Ireland Galway. The appointment to the Teagasc Authority is effective from 12 June, 2007 for a five year term.

Chairman of the Teagasc Authority, Dr Tom O' Dwyer welcomed Margaret Sweeney's appointment saying "Margaret brings over 20 years experience in business, in both the private and public sectors and I look forward to her making an important contribution to the ongoing development of Teagasc."

The Teagasc chairman paid tribute to Anna May McHugh, the Managing Director of the National Ploughing Association, for her excellent service to Teagasc during her five year term on the Teagasc Authority. He said "I would like to thank Anna May for her dedication and commitment to Teagasc during her time as a member of the Teagasc board. She made an extremely valuable and constructive contribution to the organisation over the last five years."

Dr O' Dwyer also congratulated Jimmy Brett, Managing Director of the Brett group, Callan, County Kilkenny, on his reappointment to the Teagasc Authority for a further five year term saying that he looked forward to continuing to work closely with him in the future.

The Authority members joined with the chairman in acknowledging and remembering the contribution of the late Joe Rea, the first chairman of the Teagasc Authority, who passed away last weekend. Joe Rea chaired the Authority from the setting up of the new organisation, Teagasc, in September 1988 until 1993. During this time he led the successful integration of ACOT, the Advisory and Training Service, and AFT, the Agriculture Research Institute. Dr Tom O'Dwyer extended sympathy to his wife Margaret, daughter Triona, sons Michael and Martin, brother Richard and the extended Rea family.