The death has occurred of former Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) president Con Scully.

The president of ICMSA, Pat McCormack, said that he had met Mr Scully on numerous occasions through the years and was always struck by the attitude of diplomacy and determination that was exerted.

“He was incredibly insightful about the real nature of what had to be addressed and how to go about that.

"His work at the milk quota appeals tribunal was definitive, and in many cases was the difference between individual farmers being able to keep going – it was that important," McCormack said.

"If he was arguing your case then you had the best there was in your corner," he said.

Charm

Frank Allen, another former president of ICMSA, who had worked closely with the hugely popular Clonakilty man, said that Mr Scully’s contributions were always marked by an easy charm and real solidarity for fellow farm families facing problems.

“He was typical of those west Cork farmers in that while he was very engaging and easy-going, he was also absolutely committed and unswerving about doing what he thought was right – not that which was necessarily popular.

"In 1986, there was a fodder crisis in the west after two desperately wet summers, Con Scully launched the Farm Solidarity Fund that raised the money to get fodder from the east to the hard-pressed farms in the west," Allen said.

Mr Scully had a sense of meitheal whereby he always showed solidarity with other farmers and the duty to help, according to Allen.

As well are serving as president, Mr Scully served on the European Economic and Social Council for 12 years.

He was a west Cork man through-and-through

Speaking for west Cork ICMSA, the local branch of the specialist family dairy farm organisation, Eileen Calnan, said that Mr Scully’s legacy was both simple and incredibly important.

“He was a west Cork man through-and-through; very proud of our farms, the technical excellence and ambition of our farmers and absolutely versed in the set-up and strengths of the network of local co-ops that went under the Carbery banner.

"There’s another champion gone, and we won’t see his likes again”, said Calnan.