Sean Finan from Castlerea Macra in Co. Roscommon has been elected as the 35th National President of Macra na Feirme.

185 votes were cast in the Presidential election and there was a quota of 94. Eamon Cassells received 10 first preference votes, Paddy Delaney received 39 first preferences, Sean Finan received 80 first preferences and Michelle O’Callaghan received 56 first preference votes.

After the first count Eamon Cassells was eliminated and his votes were distributed. Finan received one vote bringing his tally to 81, O’ Callaghan received three votes bringing her total to 59 and Delaney received six of Cassells votes bringing him to 45.

Since no candidate had reached the quota, Delaney was eliminated and his votes were distributed between Finan and O’Callaghan. There were 45 votes to be distributed, three were non-transferable therefore 42 were distributed. Finan received 24 votes bringing his tally to 105, while O’Callaghan received 18 bringing her total to 77. Finan was deemed elected the new President of Macra na Feirme.

IMG_0624

The election count took place earlier today (Tuesday) at the Irish Farm Centre in Bluebell, Dublin 12 and Finan will succeed Kieran O’Dowd, the outgoing president.

Barrister and accountant O’Dowd was the first non-farmer to be elected President of the organisation and he was also Sligo’s first national President.

Finan is a founding member of Castlerea Macra and was elected as North West Vice President in 2013. He is a beef farmer and construction project manager with Sisk.

Vice Presidential elections

Along with electing a national President, every two years Macra elects three Vice Presidents also. In the race to become Leinster Vice President some 55 votes were cast. Each vote was counted initially, before the votes were divided. All votes were present. The quota was 28.

Noel Duffy got 23 first preference votes. Odile Evans received 27 first preference votes. Aoife Lanigan got five first preference votes. No candidate had reached the quota, so Aoife was eliminated and her votes were then distributed. Three went to Noel, bringing him to 27, while two went to Odile, giving her 29 votes deeming her elected.

National President Elect, Sean Finan, Castlerea Macra, Roscommon; (second from right) with (left to right) Munster Vice President, Gerard Griffin, Mitchelstown Macra, Avondhu, Cork; North West Vice President, Caroline O'Dowd, South Sligo Macra; and Leinster Vice President, Odile Evans, Johnstown/ Coolgreaney Macra, Wicklow.

National President Elect, Sean Finan (second from right) with (left to right) Munster Vice President, Gerard Griffin, Cork; North West Vice President, Caroline O’Dowd, and Leinster Vice President, Odile Evans.

Odile is member of the Johnstown/Coolgreany Macra and is a final year student at UCD.

Caroline O’Dowd won the Macra North West Vice Presidential election. Some 57 votes were eligible for the election between Ray Gilmartin and Caroline O’Dowd. With a quota of 29, the votes were distributed and Gilmartin took 28 of the votes, while the wife of the outgoing President O’Dowd received 29 of the votes, winning by just one vote.

Gerard Griffin a teacher and farmer from Fermoy Co. Cork, the only candidate running for Munster Vice President, was deemed elected.

The new President and Vice Presidents will take up office at the Macra AGM on May 9 2015.

Macra Election Celebration