Festive cheer has been in short supply in North Cork IFA circles of late, The Dealer understands.

There has been a pronounced absence of the old ‘ho, ho, ho’, and very little time for a blast of ‘God rest ye merry gentlemen’.

While some debate the chances of a white Christmas, the only question that matters this Yuletide for North Cork’s farmers is who will replace Anne Baker as county chair following this week’s election?

There are two in the shake-up for the position, well-known pig farmer Pat O’Keeffe and John Magner who is the county’s forestry chair.

The Dealer hears that the campaign has dredged up old divisions from the IFA presidential election when O’Keeffe was accused of supporting Tim Cullinan over local candidate John Coughlan.

Since it is a postal vote, one can only hope that a percentage of ballots don’t end up in Lapland. Meanwhile, Monaghan farmer Frank Brady last week won the vote to become the IFA’s Ulster/north Leinster regional chair. He saw off competition from John Curran, Kells, Co Meath, taking the seat by 1,199 votes, to Curran’s 929.