“I finished milking one evening [Thursday 17 December], rushing to get into the Galway county executive with two items in mind: one to discuss the Con Lucey report and two to ratify another Galway man (Michael Silke), who had put himself forward for the presidency.

“In the course of the meeting, it transpired that he had pulled out, and at the end of the meeting I just happened to be nominated.

“I was sitting at the back of the room indicating no to the chair, because I’d no thought put into it. In his wisdom, he said to take two weeks over Christmas to think about it, and that’s what we did.”

Thus Joe Healy recounts how he came from nowhere in the ranks of the IFA to become its 15th president.

In truth, from the moment his name first circulated as a potential candidate to fill the vacuum left by the resignation of Eddie Downey, he seemed like a good fit for the extraordinary moment the IFA found itself in.

He has long been known all over Ireland among farmers for one or other of a wide range of involvements: national stock-judging champion; Macra president; national sheep shearing champion; journalist; mart committee chair; and mart manager.

His involvement in the IFA has been, in comparison, low-key, but he proved an invaluable member of the Farm Business Committee over the last couple of years.

The combination of recognition, reputation, but coming from outside the current IFA leadership fitted the profile of what rank-and-file members wanted in a leadership contender.

A clear majority

Four months on, he has been elected with a clear majority of the votes – his total of 14,122 was more than the combined tallies of Henry Burns and Flor McCarthy, who he described as “the best of men” in his victory speech.

He ascribes his victory to the hard work of his campaign team at a time everyone knows is very busy on farms.

“Farmers are under pressure financially as well; in many cases there might have been a financial loss, whether it was to get in a relief milker or a loss they might have incurred as a result of being on the road. The sacrifice they made is one I will be eternally grateful for,” said Healy.

“I wasn’t confident, cocky or nervous last night, because there was no more we could have given it: whatever would be, would be. There was no vote we took for granted, it was five past nine last Thursday when I put the last call into a farmer in Roscommon who was on his way into his branch meeting.

“My father always said whatever you are doing, give it your heart and soul, and whatever the outcome, you’ll be better able to accept it,” he said.

Priorities

What are Joe’s priorities?

“Every president probably says this, but farming is under pressure like never before. All the major commodities are selling below the cost of production.

“In previous years there was a feeling that there was funding available in Brussels – it doesn’t seem like that anymore,” said Healy.

“There’s global pressure, but some answers are closer to home. You mentioned Brexit. I think you intimated that Irish farmers don’t realise the full impact of it, but farmers are well aware.

“It’s one of the issues that came up quite regularly on the hustings. The UK accounts for €4.4bn of a total of €10.8bn of our food exports.

“I was delighted to read that David Cameron visited Northern Ireland farmers, and pointed out there were £330m in direct payments that would be lost; commodity prices would have to increase by 30% to compensate.

“Should Brexit become a reality, Ireland needs to ensure we are compensated for the historic arrangements that have been there down through the years,” he warned.

Past performance

During the campaign Joe was critical of the IFA’s performance in relation to beef price. Will improving that be a priority?

“Absolutely, and it has to be. We’ve a huge amount of suckler farmers and beef finishers in this country, and they’ve just been through a difficult year. The gap between prices here and in the UK has grown to €350/head or 82c/kg.

“Whether it’s out on the campaign trail or in my column, I try to reflect the mood of these farmers. It has been one of disappointment and disillusion.

“They see processors constantly appearing on the rich lists – the processors and retailers continually showing huge profits,” he said.

Inputs

“Looking at the other side, on inputs, and at the IFPRI report recently publicised on fertiliser prices, I remember on the IFA’s 60th anniversary Commissioner Phil Hogan making a big play of the need to tackle fertiliser.

“We now have the report: the science behind the amount of money being taken out of farmers’ pockets.

“I think between the anti-dumping tariff and the import levy it’s almost €50/t. All farmers use fertiliser, it’s a huge expense on farms – we need to get movement on as well.”

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