The Meath hustings last Wednesday may have been the penultimate of the 25 presidential head-to-heads, but for supporters of former president Eddie Downey, it was very much a case of justice delayed would not mean justice denied.

Speaker after speaker spoke out at what they saw as the abandonment of the president by those around him in the chaotic days following the resignation of Pat Smith.

The blame was being attached to a “Laois mafia”, with current national chairman Jer Bergin singled out by one speaker.

While there was an initial outburst against the presence of Henry Burns, there was no sense of malice toward him in the room.

As Burns said himself, you shouldn’t judge a man on where he comes from.

He also recounted the fact that Eddie Downey had attended his father’s funeral over Christmas, and how much this had meant to him and his family.

There were no qualms from the audience for the other two candidates, Flor McCarthy and Joe Healy.

Burns’ observation that IFA would be better off if Eddie had stood his ground was well founded.

However, Downey’s presidency would have been under immense pressure, irrespective of issues surrounding Pat Smith’s severance package.

The reaction of farmers around the country to the level of presidential pay would have had consequences for any recent IFA president.

The entire executive board stepped aside to facilitate a full set of elections.

Eddie Downey is still held in high standing, and not just in his own county. He was present, but did not intervene in the meeting.

Intervention

However, fellow former IFA president Tom Clinton made a statesmanlike intervention at the end of the meeting.

In a reality check for the three candidates, he described the loneliness of the position, and the difficulty of delivering policy objectives.

“If you think you will deliver 20 issues, you’ll be lucky to deliver 10,” he said.

In that context, Eddie Downey’s brother Pat approached the Irish Farmers Journal team on duty with an itemised list of 84 policy objectives achieved in his 23 months.

Clinton also said the IFA needs to set a deadline for looking back.

“Your job is looking forward,” he said.

“Whatever is done about looking back, I want it done by 30 June this year and never referred to again,” concluded Clinton.