Cavan farmer seeks IFA top post
Cavan farmer Joseph Brady is to run for the presidency of the IFA.
He made the announcement to his fellow county executive members at a meeting held at the Hotel Kilmore on Monday night last, August 19.
A suckler cow and beef farmer from Stradone, Joe as he is better known, previously served as Chair of Cavan IFA, and also Ulster/North Leinster Regional Chair. He is also a member of the IFA Rules Committee; was elected Chair of the Rural Development Committee in April 2016; and is a former National President of the Irish Simmental Cattle Society.
His entering the race expands the field of candidates seeking the position to three- including IFA Livestock Chairman Angus Woods and Treasurer Tim Cullinan.
The announcement comes just in time for Joe to begin pressing the flesh on the campaign trail staring with the Virginia Agricultural Show later today (Wednesday).
In a statement to The Anglo-Celt, he said he intends to stand as a “uniting voice” for Irish farming families. “You can only fight and win if you have a Membership that is united and focused, and that is going to be my immediate priority, if I become the next IFA President”, he said.
Recent divisions in the farmers voice, he suggested, has been “music to the ears of key stakeholders in the food supply chain” from processors to retailers, and has “allowed our political masters to ignore the real concerns” of farming families.
“I intend uniting farmers behind an organisation that is focused, hardworking and passionate about the job of representing Irish Farmers, at home and abroad. That is going to require new thinking and a support team that cares and puts delivery for farming families at the core of the Associations every day activities.”
He also said that “those who ignored the voice of the livestock sector” should shoulder “significant responsibility” for the alleged inaction that led to the genuine concerns and anger of grass roots beef farmers spilling onto the streets recently. “This will not happen for any farmer under my leadership,” Mr Brady promised.
Mr Brady continued by explaining that unless IFA changes, “and changes fast”, with the leadership and executive leading from the front, then the potential for “further divisions and weakening of our great Association” he feld is inevitable.
“I will ensure that the IFA stands firmly in favour of the Productive Sector of Irish Farming including every farmer, part and full time who’s passion and investment is in Beef, Dairy, Sheep, Tillage, Pigs, Poultry, Forestry, Horticulture, Potatoes or Aquaculture, and I intend focusing the full resources of the IFA on ensuring that all farming families actively involved in farming are fully supported and defended by our Association.
“I am asking for the support and the vote of all IFA Members across the Country, and I assure you of my absolute commitment to working hard in persuit of solutions to the many issues facing, and likely to face Irish farming businesses in the months and years ahead,” Mr Brady concluded.