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How this Longford man manages to run a 70-acre suckler beef farm despite losing 30pc of his physical capability following a collapse in 2006

Michael Beirne: ‘I do as much as I can but I’m aware I have limitations and I know not to cross the line’

A cut above: Michael Beirne on his farm outside Edgeworthstown, Co Longford. Photos: Brian Farrell Expand
Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle Expand

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A cut above: Michael Beirne on his farm outside Edgeworthstown, Co Longford. Photos: Brian Farrell

A cut above: Michael Beirne on his farm outside Edgeworthstown, Co Longford. Photos: Brian Farrell

Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle

Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle

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A cut above: Michael Beirne on his farm outside Edgeworthstown, Co Longford. Photos: Brian Farrell

Mark Donlon

Michael Beirne is happy being able to farm at all. He farms 70 acres outside Edgeworthtown, Co Longford and keeps 27-30 head of cattle. He has 70pc of the physical capability he used to have.

“I can walk, but I have difficulty climbing stairs,” he says. “I’m good on the flat at my own pace, but I need a stick in the field as if I tripped I would have no recovery.”

In February of 2006, a collapse at a family confirmation had life-altering ramifications. A scan showed that Michael’s C5 and C7 discs had prolapsed onto his spine, and following an operation, he went to the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire unable to walk.

“When the doctor said ‘I can’t promise you anything,’ I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, when I get out of here I’ll replace the tractor and I’ll be back farming’,” Michael says.

“Dun Laoghaire was a place that was very hard. There were no favours, and tough love. They gave you the template to make the best of what you had — but you had to do it, no one else.

“I left there after six months with a wheelchair and two walking sticks and have been farming since.”

“I bought a Landini with a front loader and every day I climbed into the tractor to bring in two bales, and as time went on I kept improving.

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“Now, in the mornings I’d get up and go down to the slatted shed and either feed or throw in whatever silage is there for them, and see that they’re OK.

“Then I go to work at the Department of Agriculture, and when I come back home in the evenings I’m down the land with the tractor and checking fencing.

“If there are posts down I fix them with the front-end loader. Over the last couple of days I’ve been putting down 10-12 posts with the front loader, tightening the wire and fittings. It’s a case of a little and often over the days.”

While Michael is at the heart of operations on the farm, he acknowledges that his injury means some jobs aren’t for him:

“I’ve organised getting the slurry spread and I’m organising getting fertiliser also,” he says. “I don’t do the physical work there, I bring in contractors. They’d do the silage as well.

“With the fencing too I’ll get help if there’s barbed wire because I wouldn’t be able to handle it — that type of fencing, my good neighbour helps me.

“I bring all the bales in myself in the summertime. A nice summer is my favourite time of year. There’s longer days and I can potter around without huge pressure on getting things done.

“Also, with my legs it’s easier going around the farm when things are dry. I don’t like the winter too much.”

Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle Expand

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Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle

Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle

Inspiring: Michael with some of his cattle

Over the years Michael has improvised with machinery to make life easier.

“You could nearly say the front end loader on my tractor is my right hand because it does most things for me. The bucket and the bale handler are my main things. #

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“I’ve improvised to have metal palettes that they go on so it makes it easier for me to put them on and take them off the tractor. I improvise with certain things to make them easier for myself.

“A few neighbours and good friends have helped me enormously, both in the farming tasks and in my job in the Department.

“I really appreciate the help over the years; without those people I wouldn’t have managed as well. I do as much as I think I can but I’m aware I have limitations and I know not to cross the line with them.

“I have a philosophy to challenge myself to do what I can do, and when I know my limitations will ask questions of me, I either improvise or I get help.

“I used to love working the chainsaw, but that’s out these days. My hands are not what they used to be and don’t have the dexterity to do some things. I can’t tie my laces but I can hold a fork.”

Michael’s farm set-up is about managing what he can on a day-to-day basis.

“I buy suck calves and weanlings, and keeping the number of cattle I have is manageable for me. The cattle will be going out next week as the weather has dried up around 70pc of the land here.”

Each day he says is a challenge, mentally as well as physically, but his attitude is to keep positive.

“I say it in my head every time I get up in the morning: let it be a challenge and not an ordeal.”

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