There were wild scenes at Friday’s special general meeting of the Simmental Society in Tullamore.

After a lot of shouting and roaring, the meeting voted by 179 to 26 to disband its entire council, to elect a caretaker council and then a full working council.

The saga was triggered by a letter written by long-time society secretary Peadar Glennon to past executives and members of the then-council, outlining difficulties he faced in helping run society affairs and suggesting mediation or voluntary redundancy.

This triggered an immediate response and – eventually – last week’s special general meeting.

Declan Oates, a member of the now disbanded council, chaired the first part of the SGM and had a hard job of it.

After the vote and election of a caretaker council, Bertie Houston took over as the chair.

The caretaker council is made up of Jennie Aherne, Raymond O’Malley, Paddy Hennelly, Padge Mulhare, John Finnegan, as well as Houston. All are society veterans.

After the voting, Peader Glennon spoke and received a loud round of applause.

Ordinary members who attended the SGM were astonished at the ructions.

“It made anything going on at the Beef Plan meetings look like a teddy bears’ picnic,” one told The Dealer.

ICOS troubleshooter Sean Myers is now likely to be called in to bang heads together and get the society moving forward again.