Talamh Beo is a democratically organised, member-led movement. Our structure is designed to be horizontal and participatory, ensuring that the organisation remains rooted in the lived experience of farmers, landworkers, and citizens. Below are the members of our Board of Directors, Operational Group & Secretariat Groups who are responsible for the day to day decisions & running of the organisation. Read more about our structure & governance here.
Talamh Beo
Ruth Hegarty is a food policy and sustainable food systems specialist. She leads and consults on a wide variety of projects that promote better food environments, food education, local food networks, and a resilient and sustainable food system, as well as being involved in food policy research and advocacy. She is also an experienced facilitator, MC, and writer. Ruth holds a Masters in Food Policy from City, University of London and a Masters in European Economic & Public Affairs from UCD, and lectures in Food Policy at UCC.
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ruthhegarty Twitter: @eggandchick Instagram: @eggandchick
Mimi Crawford is an environmental geologist, organic farmer, mother and artisan food producer.
Mimi combines her geological and environmental work on soils and landscapes in Ireland with her experience of farming to explore context specific challenges and opportunities arising for small farms and artisan food producers in a changing world.
Together, she and her husband Owen run a small, diversified farm with a raw milk micro-dairy, poultry and pigs and she is currently a member of the FSAI Artisan Forum.
www.crawfordsfarm.ie
Emanuela Russo is a farmer, communicator and mother based in County Galway. She and her partner Fergal run a small scale agroecological farm (Leaf and Root Farm) near Loughrea, where they have been growing organic vegetables and fruits since 2011.
Manu is the coordinator of the International Nyéléni newsletter, a communications tool of the International Food Sovereignty movement. nyeleni.org. She holds a Masters in International Cooperation from CIRPS (Interuniversity Research Centre for Sustainable Development), Rome.
John Brennan has managed Leitrim Organic Farmers Coop since 2001 and has also farmed Irish Moiled Cattle and sheep organically in Roscommon since 1998.
He is Chairman of National Organic Training Skillnet (NOTS) and Irish Native Rare Breeds Society (INRBS), and also works as an organic advisor and general farm advisor.
John’s hope is that Talamh Beo will define a new path for agriculture in Ireland – one that will be led by agroecology, and that will ensure that those who wish to farm can do so through the tenets of Food Sovereignty.
Davie Philips co-founded FEASTA, the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, and Sustainable Projects Ireland Ltd., the educational charity developing Cloughjordan Ecovillage, where he is based. He works with Cultivate, the Sustainable Ireland Cooperative, leading initiatives to build the capacity of local catalysts to facilitate engagement.
Davie is actively involved with Cloughjordan Community Farm and is a coordinator of the Food Hub within the Ecovillage. He also plays a role in leading the Feeding Ourselves Community of Practice and manages an Irish Living Lab of stakeholders focused on short food supply chains.
Thomas O Connor owns and runs www.mannaorganicstore.ie and farm with his wife Claire in Kerry. They have a 25 acre mixed organic farm where we grow produce for our organic store in Tralee. Thomas believes that we need to work with nature rather than against it, knowing that food and seed sovereignty can help us build resilient and sustainable communities. He is also involved with www.transitionkerry.org and www.biodynamicagriculture.ie
Linkedin: organicfarmerthomas
Rose Hogan is the Global Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Adviser with an International Development Agency.
She has over 30 experience in formulating, implementing and monitoring participatory rural development, sustainable agriculture and land use programmes with partners in coastal, forest, freshwater wetlands and agro-ecosystems.
She has designed and underpins all rural livelihoods and food systems work with agroecological principles and the FAO Ten Elements of Agroecology.
Fergal Smith is a farm manager and former pro-surfer. He has a background in horticulture from growing up on his parents market garden outside Westport in Co. Mayo where his dad was a pioneer in small scale horticulture.
Up until he was 24 he travelled the world and surfed the best waves around, at which point he gave it all up and returned to Ireland to work the land.
Fergal has completed the 10-day 3LM Holistic Management training and Richard Perkins 10 day intensive regenerative agriculture training.
Ailbhe Gerrard is a farmer, beekeeper, researcher and agricultural educator, and the founder of Brookfield Farm on the shores of Lough Derg, Co. Tipperary. With postgraduate training in sustainable development and organic farming in the UK, she returned to Ireland to build a regenerative, nature-led farm that combines livestock, bees, woodlands and biodiversity work with public learning and collaboration. Over the past fifteen years she has developed Brookfield as both a working farm and a place of exchange, convening farmers, artists, scientists and communities through the Field Exchange programme to explore practical climate and biodiversity solutions on the ground.
Anna Browne (https://bigskyflowers.ie) owns a 44 acre mixed forest, but while she waits for trees to grow she farms flowers & runs sustainability workshops. Anna believes that Horticulture (and flower farming in particular) has an important role to play in food and seed sovereignty, as well as supporting biodiversity. Inspired by the passion and clarity of mission of Talamh Beo, Anna has quickly become an active member of the group.
Milo Butler is a co owner of OURgnaic Gardens, an outdoor educational garden focused on food growing 🍓, nature re-connection 🌳& permaculture design 🌎. www.ourganicgardens.ie
Milo & his wife Joanne, run the gardens & offer hands on courses on growing your own food, sustainability and the environment. From individual gardening enthusiasts, to college horticulture students, community groups and even workplace team-building groups.
They also farm using home scale permaculture, the no-dig method and incorporate other holistic practices into their gardening
Daniel Connor is an agroecological farmer working mainly with heirloom and open pollinated seed crops, previously working in a variety of organic orchards, market gardens and local food enterprises across the UK and Ireland following his studies in Kinsale College and UCD. He completed an internship with Organic Growers Ireland and following work with European Coordination Via Campesinas Youth projects went on to co-found Talamh Óg in 2025. Passionate about seed sovereignty, land access and the right to access food, wild spaces and commons – Daniel believes strongly in the intersection of food, politics, ecology and culture, finding agroecology the best movement to express this. His work in Talamh Beo focuses on land and work access alongside youth topics.
Allison Roberts spent the last 20 years as a social entrepreneur running her bean-to-bar chocolate micro factory in West Cork. Over the last few years she has changed course, doing a 2-year food waste reduction project with VOICE Ireland and is now part of Talamh Beo’s secretariat, focusing on the Strengthening Local Food Economies & Pathways to Organic SFSCs projects. Allison also volunteers with the Irish Cycling Campaign & has been co-organising the Clonakilty Bicycle Festival since 2011.
OUR wider network
Talamh Beo is part of the wider global organisation La Via Campesina and its European branch (ECVC).
The National Women’s Council is the leading national representative organisation for women and women’s groups in Ireland, founded in 1973. We have over 190 member groups and a large and growing community of individual supporters.
Agroecology Europe intends to place agroecology high on the European agenda of sustainable farming and food systems. We foster interaction and knowledge sharing to create an inclusive European community of professionals, practitioners, and societal stakeholders in agroecology.
Irish Environmental Network is an umbrella network that works to support national environmental NGOs through access to funding and services. It consists of environmental NGOs that carry out their work through practical conservation work, campaigning, lobbying and raising public awareness of environmental and conservation needs.
The Wheel is Ireland’s national association of charities, community groups and social enterprises. They provide leadership to the charity and community sector and advocate on behalf of members. As a resource they offer advice, training and other opportunities to people working or volunteering in the charity and community sector.
IDEA – the Irish Development Education Association, is the national network for Global Citizenship Education in Ireland. Together with our members, they work to strengthen and champion Global Citizenship Education in Ireland and internationally.
We want to create a better food system in Ireland, where all people have access to healthy, nutritious and affordable local food.
WE STAND FOR:
Learn more by reading our Theory of Change.
