Handy Hose, a magnetic hose holder aimed specifically at dairy farmers, developed by two award-winning students from Thurles CBS, has managed to make them the youngest Glanbia vendors “by far”.
Jack O’Mara (16) and Daniel Ruddy (17) took home the top prize in the senior category at the Student Enterprise Programme national finals, run by the Local Enterprise Offices in May this year.
The invention attaches to a hose to enable it to “connect easily to any metal surface” within a milking parlour. The magnetic holder allows dairy farmers to “keep their wash down hose close to hand and prevents trip hazards”.
It was developed on the farm of former Kilkenny hurler, Lester Ryan.
Speaking about the invention, O’Mara says:
The Handy Hose Magnetic Holder connects the farmer’s host to the side of the pit. This eliminates the need to continually bend down, whilst also saving time and making milking easier.
“The product is designed to stay on the hose all the time meaning once you put it on, no further effort is required.”
The student enterprise, J&D Engineering, make the attachment themselves and, prior to Covid-19, had sold over 200 units. They continue to sell online.
Ruddy says receiving the listing with Glanbia is “something we could have only dreamed about” when they started working on it as a transition year project.
Senan Foley, Glanbia Ireland’s head of retail added that the students are “by far our youngest vendors and we take great pride in encouraging entrepreneurs for the future”.
Teachers Write To Minister About ‘Fundamental Problems’
Meanwhile, in other news, the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers’ Association (IASTA) has written to Minister for Education Norma Foley expressing concerns over the Leaving Certificate agricultural science assessment.
These concerns relate to the new Leaving Cert specification for the course, which was introduced in September 2019 and is due to be examined next June (2021) for the first time.
While the IASTA recognises that the new specification was “very much needed and welcomed by teachers”, it wishes to bring attention to some “fundamental problems that exist with the specification and with its implementation in the classroom”.
