Pat Murphy officially launched his campaign to become the next deputy president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) in Co. Galway last night (Friday, September 22).
Around 150 people gathered in Bradley’s Bar in Labane as the current IFA Connacht regional chair outlined how his campaign is focused on the family farm and the food that they produce.
“Everyone there last night is part of a family, part of a community. They need a strong IFA, and they need people in leadership who understand what similar families are going through,” the dairy farmer told Agriland.
IFA
Locally produced lamb, beef and cheese was served at the launch, as Murphy, a former chair of Galway IFA, spoke about the challenges currently facing farm families.
He said that all farmers are impacted by issues such as the nitrates derogation, emissions targets and carbon credits.
“All of these are having a direct effect on farm families, their ability to produce food, their ability to fend for themselves and to make ends meet.
“I’m a family man myself with three kids in college. I know what it’s like to struggle and the challenges that we face.
“Those challenges are made harder by government decisions that are affecting us.
“What any family farm unit wants is a strong IFA and a leader within the IFA structure that knows what people are going through,” he said.
Murphy outlined his experience for over 20 years in IFA from being a county officer to becoming a regional chair.
The farmer also said that he would also draw upon his coaching and leadership skills from his local Ardrahan GAA club if he was successful in his election bid.
“I became Connacht chair in 2020 on the promise of being someone who would listen to the people and I have tried every day to deliver on that.
“I used the Connacht white paper, involving the five counties, as an example of that listening and delivery as well as leading the imports of fertiliser this year from Northern Ireland to help drive down the costs on farms,” he said.
Election
Alice Doyle, a beef farmer and the association’s current Farm Family and Social Affairs Committee chairperson, is also running in the deputy presidential election.
Both candidates took part in their first debate exclusively on the Agriland livestream from the National Ploughing Championships on Wednesday (September, 20).
A series of hustings will take place around the country over the coming months ahead of IFA members casting their votes in November, with the election count taking place in December.
“There’s two months left. These are the championship minutes. This is what we’re in it for. I love getting out and meeting people.
“I loved being at the Ploughing during the week, you were meeting people, a lot of people that you would know,” Murphy, who has been on the IFA National Council for the past 14 years, said.
“You’re trying to help people with queries or concerns that they might have. You’re out there listening,” he added.
“I don’t say that, ‘we’re IFA, we’ve done everything right in the past’, we haven’t. We’ve got things wrong.
“It’s important that we have that ability to listen to what people are telling us on the ground that if we haven’t done everything right for them, if they feel that we have haven’t done all the we can do, it’s important that we say how can we improve it? That’s what I try to do,” Murphy said.