Farewell to Frank

THE equestrian world bid farewell to Frank Boyd of Rademon Estate, who died last week. A property developer and businessman in his professional career, Boyd was involved in hunting, racing, eventing and showing, not least through his wife Rose and her ownership of the legendary hurdler Hurricane Fly, and through the Kilultagh, Old Rock and Chichester Hunt. His daughters and his family’s move to Rademon prompted his involvement in eventing, and Rademon ran a successful Eventing Ireland fixture for a number of years.

A tribute from his family reflected on Frank’s inherent positivity: “His trademark words of encouragement, ‘Gee up’, perfectly reflected his outlook on life: keep moving forward, seize the opportunity and make things happen. Which he did, every day.”

Amateur of the year

THE Amateur committee of Eventing Ireland are welcoming nominations for their amateur of the year award via the Eventing Ireland website.

The award is intended to honour the rider who most embodies the spirit of Amateur eventing; the person who encourages and supports others, who celebrates people’s successes with them and helps anyone who needs a hand.

The award is not to recognise the most successful Amateur rider in terms of results, but the member who most represents the ethos of the sport. Nominations will close on September 14th, after which a shortlist will be presented and the Amateur community can vote for their winner.

The award will be presented on October 10th at the NutriScience Equine Amateur Awards evening.

Farrell new Teagsc COO

THE Teagasc Authority has approved the appointment of Valerie Farrell as Chief Operations Officer in Teagasc. In this role, she will lead the Operations Directorate and will have responsibility for the finance, human resources, corporate services, business delivery and ICT departments, as well as Authority Affairs and serving as Secretary to the Teagasc Authority. She will take over from Alan Phelan, who retires later this year after serving as Chief Operations Officer since October 2020.

Congratulating Farrell on her appointment Teagasc chairman, Liam Herlihy said: “Valerie brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of Teagasc, its people and its programmes to this role. She has successfully developed and implemented a number of people strategies and corporate change programmes.”