Moyle chair attends a Presidential gathering at GreenmountCollege

The Greenmount Association, which was founded in 1932, provides a forum for past students and staff to come together and share their technical expertise in a social setting.

It is one of the most vibrant past students’ Associations in Ireland or indeed the UK with around 1,700 members and an active well-attended programme of activities featuring farm, commercial and public interest visits and a formal dinner dance held throughout the year. It is also highly influential in agricultural circles with many of its members in key positions throughout the sector.

Past Greenmount Association Presidents, Greer McCollum, Robert McCloy and Will Taylor have all held the position of Ulster Farmers’ Union president while Sandra Hunter, President of the Greenmount Association in 2003 is currently Chairperson of Moyle District Council.

During their visit to the campus they viewed the ongoing farmyard redevelopments and heard about the technologies being incorporated in the new state of the art 150 dairy cow unit currently under construction.

Other features of the tour were the renewable energy technologies including the biomass boiler, wind turbine and solar panels used to heat the water for washing the dairy parlour.

To round off the tour, the Past Presidents surveyed the Golf and Greenkeeping Academy opened by Rory McIlroy in 2009 and heard how it was being used to train the latest generation of greenkeepers. John Wilson, a keen golfer himself reflected “With a facility like this, it’s little wonder Northern Ireland has some of the best golfers in the world”.

The visit concluded with a tree planting ceremony on the front lawn.