Kildare student Ailish receives prestigious bursary to farm in New Zealand for 4 months

Castledermot student Ailish Osbourne has been awarded a prestigious bursary that will see her travel to New Zealand to work on a huge dairy farm as part of her studies.

The WIT attendee was one of six third level college students to be given the bursary, which allows them to travel around the globe in a bid to broaden their expertise in the industries.

The bursaries are handed out by the Agricultural Science Association and the Irish Farmers Journal.

Ailish will be working on a vast dairy farm with 820 cows for four months as part of her experience.

This is the third year in which the ASA and Irish Farmers Journal have come together to reward third-year students who opt to do the work experience element of their course overseas. The WIT bursaries are also supported by Glanbia and Seedtech.

Ailish, who is a past pupil of St Leos College in Carlow, said: "I am delighted to be chosen for this wonderful award that was made available to my classmates and I to travel overseas for work placement. This opportunity is giving me the chance to travel to New Zealand and experience the work and management involved in operating large-scale farm businesses. I would like to thank the Agricultural Science Association, the Irish Farmers Journal and Glanbia for the kind sponsorship of this very generous award."

Derrie Dillon, ASA President said, "As the professional body for the agri-food sector, the Agricultural Science Association aims to encourage and support the professional development of our Agricultural Science students in order to equip them with the skills to continue to lead our industry forward. We were really impressed with the standard of applications this year and we look forward to hearing updates on how the six students selected develop on a personal and professional level over the coming months."