Rural GP confirmed as NI Farm Safety Hero 2026
Rural GP and part-time farmer, Dr. Rebecca Orr, has been named as Northern Ireland’s Farm Safety Hero 2026.
The Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) made the announcement today (Friday, July 24), the final day of Farm Safety Week.
Now in its 14th year, the initiative has grown into one of the farming sector’s largest safety awareness campaigns and is backed by more than 500 partner organisations across the UK and Ireland.
Farm safety hero
The Farm Safety Foundation said that Dr. Orr has "helped unite farming organisations, charities and health professionals around a shared commitment to improving outcomes for those living and working in rural areas".
Dr. Orr was the founding chair of the NI Agri-Rural Health Forum and is a member of the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) Rural Affairs Committee.
The foundation praised her "gentle yet infectiously energetic and collaborative approach" which it said "inspires trust and engagement".
Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation, said that Dr. Orr understands both the pressures and the culture of farming life and has brought a "unique energy to the farm safety agenda".
"Choosing Dr Rebecca Orr as Northern Ireland’s Farm Safety Hero was one of the easiest decisions we have made and one that was unanimously supported by the Northern Ireland Farm Safety Partnership.
"Rebecca brings a uniquely powerful voice shaped by her roots in farming, her experience with YFCU and her frontline role as a rural GP to champion the health and safety of the NI agricultural community," she said.
