Kilkenny man steps down from national role with business organisation

The Kilkenny man who has been at the helm of an organisation that represents farm and forestry contractors has stepped down from the role after five years.

John Hughes, from Danville, recently completed his five-year term in the position. He is succeeded by Norman Egar from Brannockstown, Naas, Kildare, who was elected as the new FCI National Chair, at the Association’s AGM held in Portlaoise recently.

John Hughes was an active member of the FCI National Council for a number of years before being elected national chair of the organisation. He is a second generation farm contractor; his late father Kevin Hughes began the family farm contracting business back in 1947.

Norman has been FCI Vice-Chair for a number of years and his family has links to Kilkenny.
His term of office begins in January 2026.

Norman runs an agricultural contracting business from Brannockstown in association with his brother Mark and trading as Garavald Ltd.

They also operate as Agrilife, which is an agricultural nutrient management operation working closely in association with the agri-food sector, covering a large area of the country.

More recently, they have also developed BVS Parts Ltd as an agricultural machinery parts supply business in association with Patrick and Laura Nolan of Belan Agri and also operating from Brannockstown.

Norman and Mark have a farming background and have been running their agricultural contracting business for more than twenty five years. The business was originally started by their father Herbert and the third generation of the Egar family, Norman’s son Jonathan is currently an important member of the team.

Norman and Mark are both graduates of Gurteen Agricultural College, while Jonathan more recently completed his agricultural education at Kildalton Agricultural College.

Why is FCI important?
“At FCI we will continue to work towards proper Contractor Registration, and it remains a high priority for us,” said Mr Egar.

“I will continue to work with our FCI Council members to strive to get a proper registration process in place, to our sector on a professional basis,” he added.

“Training has become another priority for agricultural and forestry contractors, and at FCI we are giving this a huge effort in 2026.

“FCI is getting the message out through proper representation, effective lobbying both here in Ireland and in Europe through our involvement in CEETTAR, giving a level of support for our sectors that has never been there for contractors in the past,” said Mr Egar.

“These are among the reasons that I have been associated with FCI since its foundation in 2012. And there is much more work to be done. It can only be achieved when agricultural and forestry contractors communicate with each other, and support one another in solving problems and achieving goals that allow for sector sustainability and we are confident that being part of FCI provides the best opportunity for that,” he added.