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At last year’s Women & Agriculture conference, supported by FBD Insurance, the issue of female representation in farm organisations was raised. In the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) at the time there was only one woman on the 53 member executive council, the chair of the Farm Family Committee, which has an all-female membership.
Since, five female county chairs have been elected; Imelda Walsh in north Tipperary, Anne Baker in north Cork, Erica O’Keeffe in south Tipperary, Ann Mitchell in Galway and Elizabeth Ormiston in Cavan.
Two of these county chairs, Anne Baker and Imelda Walsh, spoke at today’s Women & Agriculture conference. They were joined on a panel, the future of women in farming, by chair of the Farm Family Committee Caroline Farrell and Irish Country Living’s Mairead Lavery.
Looking back
Speaking about the 2017 conference, Lavery said there was a lively debate and that IFA president Joe Healy turned up, listened to the views of the women in the room and did something. A diversification committee was set up to look at, among other issues, the barriers to women joining and progressing in the IFA.
“It was hot and heavy here last year,” she said . “Hot and heavy has produced 12% of people on the IFA executive council as women.”
“None of them [the female county chairs] got it handed to them, none of them got it easy. Most of them had to contest elections. If not, they had to be fierce enough that someone wouldn’t take them on.”
Imelda Walsh said she does not feel last year’s event had anything to do with her becoming county chair and that within her own county it was accepted she would take up the position following her four year term as county secretary.
No impediment
Speaking to Irish Country Living in Killarney today, Anne Baker said that herself and Walsh held different positions in the IFA before becoming county chair and that they weren’t “parachuted in” because of what happened last year.
“Nothing has changed in regards to the rules of the IFA, there was never an impediment to any woman becoming county chairperson. Imelda and myself were elected primarily because we had been secretary and had been involved in different committees as well. We weren’t parachuted into the position on account of what happened last year.”
Walsh said that often there is a lack of women in organisations across the board, not just farming, because women can be slow to put themselves forward.
“There is no impediment, I think the impediment is ourselves as women. In putting ourselves forward in seeking positions.”
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