IFA members across the country have finished voting to elect the 15th President of the IFA and the counting of the votes will start next Tuesday, April 18, in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin.
IFA National Returning Officer Jer Bergin said he was very satisfied with the turnout reported around the country, given the timing of the election.
Several county chairmen told Agriland that the timing was having an effect on numbers, however IFA members were making the effort to come out and vote.
Kerry IFA
The home county of IFA Presidential candidate Flor McCarthy saw a very good turnout in the past week.
Sean Brosnan, the Kerry County Chairman, said that turnout in McCarthy’s branch, Kenmare, was near enough to 100%.
Elsewhere in the county, numbers were in the region of 70%, he said.
Kilkenny IFA
Kilkenny County Chairman John Bambrick has said that in the final week of voting in the county there was a pick-up in numbers.
He has suggested that numbers in the county could be in the region of 1,100 votes, which is down slightly on the last election. However, he said that for a county that did not have a candidate running, it was a good turn out.
Laois IFA
Numbers were high in Co.Laois, with County Chairman Pat Hennessy reporting that overall 90% of the county came out to vote for the local candidate Henry Burns.
“We put an awful effort in to get all the branches out to vote. Surprisingly, turnout was better in the bigger branches than in the smaller ones,” he told Agriland.
Roscommon IFA
Following the end of voting in Roscommon, turnout in the county was in and around 50%, according to John Hanley, Roscommon County Chairman.
Two branches in the county took a stand and refused to vote in the election, Strokestown and Boyle, due to the ongoing deadlock for the top job in Connacht.
However, it is understood that both branches voted this week and that turnout was good.
Kildare IFA
In Kildare, County Chairman Brian Rushe has said that there has been a very strong turnout in the south of the county, with almost 100% in some branches.
Numbers have been particularly strong in and around Athy, near where IFA Deputy Presidential candidate Pat Farrell hails from.
Overall, Rushe said that turnout stands at around 30% for the county as a whole.
Galway IFA
Meanwhile, Galway County Chairman Pat Murphy told Agriland that turnout has been very high in the county and that turnout was in the region of 80-85%.
He said that Athenry, the branch of Presidential candidate Joe Healy, had over 90% turnout.
Murphy said that a lot of effort went into the election and that the branches responded to that.
Cork West IFA
Corney Buckley, Cork West’s new County Chair, told Agriland that voting went well with 50% turnout in some branches and 35% in others.
“It’s a busy time of year and the weather isn’t great. It’s the wrong time of year to have it and it’s difficult for people to get out, farmers are exhausted.”