What are we meant to make of Aaron Forde’s departure from the chair of Ornua after six years? There was little warning until the eve of Tuesday’s board meeting that a change was afoot. Chairing the Ornua board has never been easy, but has never been harder. The board comprises the CEOs of the member co-ops, some farmer chairs and farm organisation representatives, plus one independent director, the new chair, Denis Cregan.

Cregan was one of the “three wise men” along with Denis Brosnan and Hugh Friel, who led Kerry through two decades of growth. They also led Kerry out of what was then the Irish Dairy Board 30 years ago.

The fault lines have been there for years

Ornua is now at a crossroads, with a current governance review essential to developing rules for the post-quota era. There is an extra 2.5bn litres of Irish milk to sell, and Ornua still sells half of dairy exports.

Suppliers want co-ops to develop premium products for premium markets to help pay a better milk price.

The fault lines have been there for years, and opened into a fissure with Glanbia’s launch of the Truly Grass-fed brand on the US market last year, seen as direct competition.

It’s not just cheese or butter, it’s not just in the US, and it’s certainly not just Glanbia.

Meanwhile, it felt a little like 1 April at the weekend when stories of a push to extend Joe Healy’s term as IFA president emerged.

The idea was that he should be retained past the end of 2019 to help deal with Brexit.

The only problem is that IFA president of the day is the Copa representative

Healy himself and his closest supporters confirmed awareness of the story, but were adamant they were not the origin of the idea. Others pointed out it was hardly coming from any other camp. Some observed the presidency of European farming organisation Copa might be a factor, as Healy, currently a vice-president, could be expected to assume the presidency next year. The only problem is that IFA president of the day is the Copa representative. Joe Healy will serve a short presidency, as he didn’t assume office until April 2016 after the protracted election that followed Eddie Downey’s resignation. There is no doubt Joe Healy is an articulate and persuasive communicator of IFA policy. Brexit occurred within weeks of his election, and has dominated his three years in office. It’s still some jump to even contemplate a “Brextension”, which would require a rule-change endorsed by the IFA executive council.

And as “Brexit” has still not started, and may never ever end, for how long would he stay?