Current Roscommon IFA county chair John Hanley confirmed the news to the Irish Farmers Journal on Tuesday morning. John O’Beirne also confirmed the nomination to us.

This means that three of the five Connacht county executives have now nominated someone for the position of Connacht regional chair: Tom Turley (current Connacht regional chair) has been nominated by Galway, Mayo has nominated Padraic Joyce, John O’Beirne has secured the nomination from Roscommon.

The nominees need the backing of one other county in the region, meaning that at least one of the three contenders will lose out when the Sligo executive meets on Tuesday evening and Leitrim meets on Wednesday evening.

As it stands, the only contender for IFA regional chair for north Leinster/Ulster is current chair Bert Stewart, who has the backing of his own county, Monaghan, as well as being endorsed by Cavan.

In south Leinster, current regional chair James Murphy is keen to finish his term, while in Munster current regional chair James McCarthy has decided not to run. Those who are currently in the race in Munster are Johnny O’Brien of Cork central and Johnny Coughlan of north Cork.

Deputy president

There are currently three contenders for the position of IFA deputy president. Outgoing Kildare county chair Pat Farrell was nominated by Kildare and west Wicklow on Monday night, while Nigel Renaghan was nominated by Monaghan and Richard Kennedy by Limerick.