Francie Gorman has been elected as the IFA’s south Leinster regional chair.

The Laoisman prevailed in a contest with Wexford county chair James Kehoe and succeeds Wicklow’s Tom Short in the role, which carries a place on the IFA’s executive board.

Returning officer Martin Stapleton announced the final result as 1,390 votes for Gorman to 867 for Kehoe, but, in truth, the result was never really in doubt from early in the count.

Carlow was first to report and with both candidates from bordering counties, it was seen as an early indicator. Gorman won by 155 to 61 and the pattern was set.

Votes

The votes came from the branch delegates from eight counties - Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford and Wicklow - weighted to reflect the number of members in the voting members branch.

Gorman got more votes in six of those counties, with Kehoe sweeping his own Wexford and also winning Wicklow.

It was the first time such a prominent position in the IFA was voted for by postal ballot and attracted a high turnout of 86%.

Beef incomes

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal after his election, Gorman said: “The single biggest issue that I came across time and time again across every county was the income situation on beef farms in particular.

“It’s something that we’ll have to focus on because we need a balanced agricultural industry. We won’t have a beef sector if we don’t have an income out of it for farmers.

“We wouldn’t have a dairy industry without a beef industry, so we do all need to be pulling together.

"It’s not just [the] IFA, it’s everybody that’s going to have to sit down and see what we can do in that space."

Turnout

Returning officer Martin Stapleton paid testament to the candidates, the electorate, and local officer for the high turnout despite a switch to a postal voting system.

Stapleton said he was struck by the level of dedication and how vigorously the campaign was fought.

“I think every officer that had a vote in south Leinster must have been rang definitely twice by each candidate. To the candidates it’s a credit the effort they put in.

“It is a huge boost for the IFA to have two people with the qualities of Francie and James to put their names forward and fight so hard to get the position.”