There was an air of inevitability about Gabriel D’Arcy departing from LacPatrick, but the timing was a little surprising.

The process of exclusive engagement with Lakeland is reportedly nearing the point where a proposal will be put to shareholders of both co-ops.

By removing himself from the equation, D’Arcy has probably ensured that the focus of the debate within LacPatrick will be on the way forward rather than any blame game for its current circumstances.

It was only four years ago that D’Arcy was announced as CEO of Town of Monaghan.

Having spent almost 20 years in Kerry Group prior to becoming the CEO of Bord na Móna, the Leitrim native brought an undoubted dynamism to the role.

Within 12 months, the merger with Ballyrashane to form LacPatrick had been achieved. The €40m investment in a dryer and technology centre in Artigarvan quickly followed. While processing capacity was badly needed, it may simply have been a case of “too much, too soon”. In any event, LacPatrick’s decision to seek a strategic alliance, announced earlier this year, effectively ended the D’Arcy era.

For his part, acting “head of operations”, Dr Seán Brady has become the ultimate “safe pair of hands” in Irish agribusiness. He has previously been the interim CEO of both the Irish Dairy Board and, indeed, the Irish Greyhound Board.

He is currently a director of both Animal Health Ireland and the National Stud, and chaired both Food Harvest 2020 and the Dairy Expansion Activation Group. As a Cavan man who started out with Killeshandra Co-op, he understands the area and it’s farmers. He has an important task ahead of him now.