Patrick Kent, who has stepped down from his long-held position as president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA), now has his sights firmly set on Europe.
The Wexford farmer, who announced his resignation to the organisation’s National Executive Committee last night, Wednesday, April 24, has accepted an offer from Independents 4 Change TD Mick Wallace to join his team as an agricultural advisor should he be successful in his bid to be elected as an MEP for Ireland-South.
Speaking to AgriLand, Kent confirmed that he has accepted the offer to join Wallace’s team.
“Mick Wallace asked to put me on the list of replacements and asked if I would be an agricultural advisor to him if he gets elected and I said ‘yes’. Making sure that Mick Wallace gets to Europe is now my priority.
In my view Brussels is highly corrupt. There is a lot of wealthy politicians in Brussels that are two faced and I don’t like that.
“Mick has shown great courage and endeavour in the Dáil and he is a very well-respected politician in Wexford. I think he would be a breath of fresh air in Europe.
“He is very environmentally conscious; but I think he has been badly advised on agriculture. I think we will work well together, we will get on and we will twig things around,” he said.
ICSA elections
As for the ICSA elections – which had been scheduled to take place in December of this year – a spokesperson for the association said that it’s likely that the elections will now be moved forward.
It is understood that a number of candidates are likely to put their names forward for the presidency.
After six years at the helm, Kent says the time is right for him to move on.
The ICSA has been very good to me. I made a lot of friends. It has been an educational experience; but mostly it has been about duty, responsibility and a lot of hard work.
“I believe I have left the organisation in a better position than it was when I started. There are a lot of promising new members and I wish them well into the future,” said Kent.