Agency Members
Producers' Representatives
Dairy farmer.
Past committees served on: Secretary of Templeboy Macra na Feirme, Development Officer Macra na Feirme, Macra na Feirme National Council Member, Chairman Sligo Friesian Breeders Club, Vice-Chairman Sligo IFA, Member of Board of Connacht Gold, Chairman Connacht Gold Liquid Milk Producers, Member of Templeboy Parish Council, Secretary & Founder Templeboy & Skreen FAS Committee, Treasurer Aughris Development Committee, Chairman Templeboy & Dromore West IFA, National Liquid Milk Committee IFA, Grassland Council Member, Steering Committee Teagasc Liquid Milk. Present committees serving on: National Milk Agency Board Member, Chairman Templeboy & Dromore West IFA, Chairman of Dairy Committee for Sligo IFA, Chairman of Tiererath Advisory Committee for Aurivo.
Married to Sharon, has 4 children.
Aurivo liquid milk supplier.
Chairman Aurivo liquid milk producer group, Riverstown IFA branch chairman.
Processors' Representatives
Stephen Blewitt joined Aurivo in 2006 as Store Development Manager in the Agribusiness Unit before working in various roles in Agribusiness and Dairy. Stephen was promoted to the role of General Manager of Agribusiness in 2016 and moved to his current role of General Manager of Dairy in 2018. He holds third level qualifications in Agriculture, Business, and Finance. Prior to joining Aurivo, Stephen — who is from Ballina, Co Mayo —worked with Tesco, Kavanagh’s SuperValu group and internationally with Aldi in various sales, marketing and operational roles. Stephen completed the Executive Development Programme at UCD Smurfit Business School.
Tony was appointed to the National Milk Agency in May 2010 representing milk processors and is a native of Co. Cork. He is General Manager of Clona Dairy Products for the past 17 years and has vast experience of the liquid milk industry in Ireland. He is a Food Science graduate of CIT and is also a member of the National Dairies Association.
TJ Flanagan is the CEO of ICOS, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society, and the Secretary of the National Dairies Association. He has worked in the area of dairy policy for almost a decade, and represents Irish Dairy Co-ops at a variety of National and European forums. He also has extensive prior experience in areas such as livestock policy, animal health, and agri-trading.
Louise Hogan
Consumers' Representatives
The Chairperson of the Consumers Association of Ireland. Elected member of Mayo County Council and Castlebar Town Council. Specialist in Labour Law.
His current positions include, Incoming treasurer of The Consumers Association of Ireland, member of the National Milk Agency, member of the Department of Agriculture Consumer Liaison Panel and a member of The Department of Education, National Council for Guidance in Education. He is a retired sergeant in An Garda Síochana.
Claire Lanigan was appointed to the Board of the National Milk Agency in March 2021. A graduate of Business Studies from Dublin City University she also holds an MBA degree from Smurfit Business School, UCD.
She has previously held senior appointments in the Central Bank of Ireland in prudential supervision including Head of Division for Investment Banks and Broker Dealers, Head of Division for Asset Management firm and Head of Function for Retail Bank supervision.
She currently holds the role of Chief Risk Officer in Wells Fargo Bank International and is undertaking the Chartered Director Programme in the Institute of Directors, Ireland.
Distributors' Representative
Secretary of Milkmen Dairy Distributors Limited and is the contact for milk agents throughout the country to negotiate with the dairies for them.
Retailers' Representative
Appointed Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) in 2009, Adrian has significantly increased RAI membership as well as established a National Restaurants Awards program, in the form of The Irish Restaurants Awards. With a keen interest in politics and current affairs, Adrian has played a dominant role in lobbying for issues that impact the Restaurant Sector and in particular the cost of doing business and being an employer in Ireland. Adrian has been involved in the development and implementation of apprenticeships for the hospitality sector as an original member of the Steering Group for the development of a National Commis Chef Apprenticeship Programme and is the Industry lead for the Chef de Partie and Sous Chef apprenticeships.
Through his work in the RAI, Adrian also founded the annual Foodie Destinations Award – a competition highlighting and recognising the excellent food produce, restaurants, talented chefs and artisans and foodie destinations that the island of Ireland has to offer.
At European level, Adrian represents Ireland at HOTREC, the hospitality industry lobby group in the EU. Adrian has chaired the Food Taskforce since 2012 and in October 2016 was elected to the Executive Committee of HOTREC and has been treasurer since 2019 and is Chairman of Hospitality Europe, – Restaurants, Bars and Nightlife Working Group.
Jean McCabe is a leading retailer with over 20 years of experience and the CEO of Retail Excellence, Ireland’s largest retail representative group championing the interests of retailers nationwide. She serves on the Retail Forum and Enterprise Forum in the Department of Enterprise, Trade, & Employment.
Jean studied engineering at the University of Limerick and most recently completed an Executive MBA. She is a former President of the Ennis Chamber of Commerce and holds several non-executive board positions.