The hustings in the election campaign to become the next president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) are shortly coming to an end with a result expected on Thursday, December 17.
Edmond Phelan, who has been in the role since 2019, is finishing his term and there are two contenders in the running to take up the position: Dermot Kelleher and Sean McNamara.
Dermot Kelleher is a suckler farmer from Inchigeela in west Cork. He is married to Mary with five adult children. He is a long-standing member of ICSA and served as chair of Cork west ICSA for many years as well as being chair of the association’s suckler committee.
He currently holds the position of ICSA vice president for Munster.
- Dermot keeps a herd of both pedigree and commercial Charolais. He is well known in the Munster area for hosting lively and informative meeting and events on behalf of ICSA, including many mart events focusing on suckler breeding and genetics;
- Dermot is also chair of the Disadvantaged Farmers’ Legal Challenge – Farmers fighting for justice in disadvantaged areas. The group have mounted a case and is currenting battling to overturn fines targeted against farming families on marginal land;
- Dermot is also a leading campaigner in defending farmers’ interests when it comes to compensation payments for electricity pylons on farms;
- At ICSA’s 25th Anniversary celebrations in 2018, Dermot received an award for his outstanding contribution to ICSA.
Sean McNamara is a sheep, suckler and beef farmer from Lismacaffrey in Co Westmeath. He is married to Eleanor and has four children, all of whom help out on the farm. Sean currently holds the position of ICSA sheep chair.
- Sean is passionate about delivering a fair price to farmers for their produce. He has led many ICSA campaigns and protests in pursuit of achieving at least the cost of production plus a margin for primary producers;
- Sean is a founding member of the Irish Wool Steering Group which was established by ICSA in response to the total collapse of wool prices during 2020. The group aims to chart a way forward for the Irish wool industry, with a specific focus on increasing the potential of the wool industry sector and increasing the return to sheep farmers for their wool;
- Sean is also an advocate for greater dog controls around livestock, having previously suffered many losses on his farm due to sheep worrying incidents.
AgriLand editor Stella Meehan and journalist Sylvester Phelan posed a number of questions to both candidates ahead of their final hustings tomorrow (Thursday December 10).
If you’re elected president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) what would be your immediate priority or priorities for 2021?
Kelleher: My immediate priorities for 2021 is to raise the profile of the organisation because there was a time that we were on the cutting edge; they were all afraid of us.
My biggest priority would be to try to get the meat deal over the line and try to get factories to pay for cattle; for quality and for meat yield, that’s my biggest priority going forward with the beef taskforce.
McNamara: My immediate priority for 2021 is to be elected and to fight for farm families to get more money into their pockets.
Up to this, farms were not getting paid properly, we’re not getting the cost of production. I want to see farmers getting the full cost of production and profit for themselves.
Teagasc has forecast a 41% drop in gross-margins on cattle-finishing farms if there is a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, how would you address that as president?
Kelleher: I think the way Brexit is going it could be very bad but it mightn’t be as bad as they think at the moment. Cattle to the north are absolutely flying. Cattle are very dear at the moment and cattle going to the north are very very very good.
No-one really knows but I believe farmers will have to diversify or do something else. We had a problem down here in west Cork a couple of years ago…with land being ineligible and farmers’ money being stopped.
At the time I advised any farmer if you went to Dublin and you’re not getting the grants, apply for…Farm Assist. I believe if there is that much of a drop in profit, lads will have to cut down numbers, cut down their costs and they’ll have to try and diversify.
But no-one knows will it be that bad and we hope it won’t.
McNamara: Well it’s going to be very difficult; you’re talking about nearly half their margins. You’d have to go to the Brexit fund. You’d probably have to bring in a BEAM scheme for the cattle; if a tariff is brought in after Brexit, which can happen, it’d be too weak.
Beef farming would no longer be feasible in that scenario without serious supports; that’s the way I look at it.
Covid-19 has had a heavy impact on the country this year and will most likely continue into 2021 with marts restricted at times and farm organisations not able to meet. How would you kickstart the return to ‘normality’?
Kelleher: We have to get back out into the counties and have meetings because it’s also for the good of the people as much as for the association.
A lot of farmers are very isolated, old bachelors living alone and couples living alone – elderly people living in rural areas. An ICSA meeting is a break from the monotony aswell as somewhere to go.
For the good of farmers and the association, the minute there is an opening I intend to get out on the ground and run county meetings, in every county in the country as much as possible.
McNamara: At the moment we’re using Zoom; it’s working well enough – we’ve had a good few meetings through it. Alongside the technology I’d be hoping to have meetings in the office in Portlaoise; and I’d be hoping to get out to every county that have meetings.
I’d be looking for at least two or three meetings a year in every county to get farmers together to see their wants and needs and to see what they want me to do for them; and drum up a bit more activity.