This week, the board of Kerry Co-op elected Killarney farmer and entrepreneur Denis Carroll as chair of Kerry Co-op.
Rathmore dairy farmer Conor Creedon was elected as vice-chair.
Carroll had been the favourite to succeed Mundy Hayes since Hayes decided to step down from the chair role at the December board meeting.
Both new appointments will go down as very positive moves by the co-op board and with the majority of milk suppliers.
It will inject new optimism into the prospect of reigniting talks between Kerry Group and Kerry Co-op over the proposed joint venture for the dairy business. Both Carroll and Creedon have strong links with ICMSA.
Well-known for his involvement in the Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb group, Carroll is a successful entrepreneur who is obviously now willing to take on the substantial time and workload commitment to dedicate to Kerry Co-op.
The rearranged board meeting of Kerry Co-op took place on Tuesday after storm Barra forced the cancellation of the meeting last week.
Mundy Hayes outlined that the delayed special general meeting would go ahead when circumstances permit
Meanwhile, in a letter to shareholders this week in what was probably his last engagement as co-op chair, Mundy Hayes outlined that the delayed special general meeting would go ahead when circumstances permit.
The letter states that at the November board meeting, it was agreed the text of the two resolutions should be circulated to shareholders to give an opportunity to consider them in advance of any meeting.
It was also agreed at that meeting that any large-scale investment by the co-op would need a vote by shareholders.
Kerry Co-op is a holding company that manages the huge wealth of the co-op shareholding in Kerry Group plc.
The long-running saga of selling the dairy processing business to the farmers (Kerry Co-op) is on hold for the moment
Kerry Co-op directors have no duties on setting milk price as Kerry Group controls the dairy processing assets of Kerry milk suppliers.
The long-running saga of selling the dairy processing business to the farmers (Kerry Co-op) is on hold for the moment as differences of opinion and value, coupled with a poor relationship between the co-op and the plc prevent any strategic long term vision.
Two weeks ago, Kerry Co-op announced that Mundy Hayes has taken the decision to step down as chair of Kerry Co-op at the December meeting.
A statement from a spokesperson suggests that Hayes will remain as a director for the next 12 months.
Co-op board elections have been finalised.
