Dr Shane Conway, Researcher in the Discipline of Geography’s Rural Studies Unit at NUI Galway and with the National Rural Network (NRN) featured on a recent episode of Ear to the Ground, RTÉ’s popular national farming and rural affairs series.
As well as outlining the structure of, and practices carried out on his own farm in north east Co. Galway, Dr Conway also highlighted the importance of part-time farming, not only to the survival, continuity and future prosperity of the Irish agri-food industry and traditional family farm model, but also to the broader sustainability, viability and vibrancy of rural society, by incentivizing such farmers and their families to live and work in their local community.
You can view a clip of Shane discussing the intrinsic link between farming and rural sustainability here:
https://youtu.be/R842iiixu7g
The full version of this particular episode of Ear to the Ground can be found here on the RTÉ Player (Season 27, Episode 11).