The newly elected Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) regional chair for South Leinster has said he has “four years to go and make a difference”.
Following the national IFA election count yesterday (Wednesday, December, 13), the current IFA national environment committee chair, Paul O’Brien from Kilkenny was confirmed as the new regional IFA chair for South Leinster.
The role was also contested by Tom Byrne from Wicklow, and Pat Farrell from Kildare.
Speaking to Agriland today, O’Brien said “the scale of the win was very pleasing” as there were a total 2,315 votes cast, with him receiving the winning number of votes with 1,442 while Pat Farrell came next with 477 votes and Tom Byrne received 396 votes.
“The fact they didn’t have to go to a second round of voting was excellent,” O’Brien said.
He said there is “plenty of work ahead,” but added that he is “looking forward… to the next four years and the challenges it’s going to bring”.
O’Brien will still continue his role as the IFA national environment chair until January 9, 2024 when the IFA annual general meeting (AGM) will take place.
O’Brien confirmed to Agriland that there will be an election for his successor in Farm Centre tomorrow (Thursday, December 14)
“That’s the beautiful thing about the IFA. You get four years to go and make a difference and to put yourself in a position for four years and then you move on.
“It’s designed for you to make the most out of those four years as a voluntary officer, then you move on and let someone else in with maybe, new ideas.”
Reflecting on his campaign, O’Brien said that the eight head-to-head debates between the candidates for the South Leinster regional chair position had full attendances each night from IFA members.
Ready to assume his new role in January 2024, O’Brien said that the new IFA leadership must be prepared to “make a difference”.
“If you’re not going to make a difference you shouldn’t have asked people to vote for you,” he added.
South Leinster regional chair
Speaking following his election win, O’Brien commented in relation to the payment delays affecting farmers, and said that the government cannot continue to “road test” its plans by “throwing it out there”.
“It’s very clear that when a minister comes out with statements, that civil servants haven’t the ability to deliver on some of those payments… because of staff shortages, I.T glitches or other problems.”
Last week, Agriland spoke to O’Brien ahead of the election vote count, where he outlined his priorties for when he hoped to assume the role of regional IFA chair for South Leinster.
O’Brien criticised the government for its lack of communication with farmer representatives, and farmers themselves.
“In the last four years, dealing with the (present) government… and also the (present European Commission), farmers have gone on this journey to improve our image,” he said.
“We’ve worked hard at reducing emissions, we’ve worked hard to understand the concerns of the wider public, and a lot of things have changed very rapidly from a farmer’s point of view,” he said.
“If we’re being honest, a lot of that has had to be explained by people like the IFA. That should not be our job. It’s up to the government if they want to come along with plans, it’s up to [the government] to explain this to the people,” O’Brien added.
“More and more it’s being left out there and for people like us to try to explain the logic of why the government has made these decisions. That’s fundamentally unfair.”
O’Brien also highlighted the inadequacy of current farm payments and schemes, saying: “We look at the size of environmental schemes, and ultimately, it’s limiting the amount of very active farmers [that can] be a part of that.
“It should be up to the government to design schemes so that more and more farmers have the ability to be able to join into that. We are looking at reductions in a real sense in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and many farmers in my region, in the southeast, are looking back and reflecting on the payments they’ve received…and they’re seeing a lot of money changed from this year to last year,” he said.
“So while CAP is losing its relevance, the market place is going to have to deliver a better return for farmers… It’s now up to the government to make sure that there’s an opportunity for farmers to receive a decent proportion of the price.”