YOU didn’t need to be a rider, owner or producer to feature in the news pages of the Irish Horse World during 2025, some names appearing more often than others.

‘Heydon tipped for top Agriculture job’ was the heading over Judith Faherty’s editorial in the issue of Saturday, January 18th, when Lesley Hunter-Nolan reported on ‘Government commits support to equine sector’. Seven days later we read that the Co Kildare Fine Gael TD had been ‘appointed Minister for Agriculture’.