So who were the movers and shakers at the IFA AGM?

Tim Cullinan, who had a decisive win in the very strong field for treasurer/returning officer, was certainly smiling.

Jer Bergin, who was stepping down, had the body language of a person who believes there may still be more in the tank.

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Pat Farrell was last week elected as animal health committee chair. This created a little piece of history, as Pat and wife Caroline, recently elected to chair the farm family committee, are believed to be the first married couple to hold national positions at the same time. The Kildare couple are now the Bill and Hillary of Irish farming. Previously, Eugene and Mary Sherry were Ulster/North Leinster vice-president and farm family chair respectively, but not at the same time.

In his address, Leo Varadkar spoke of his links with the IFA’s first president Juan Greene. Both, said the Taoiseach, were medical doctors “with funny names” who studied at Trinity College.

The Taoiseach also addressed farm safety. “As a doctor who worked in emergency departments, I know the horrors of a farm accident, especially when the patient is a child,” he said.

“You can never forget what you saw.”

No fewer than 28 county and commodity chairs were recognised on completion of their terms of office.

Diarmuid Lally, the outgoing Meath chair, confessed to a cold case crime when he took to the podium. Lally admitted that it was a group from his Macra club that had trashed Johnny Bambrick’s room at a Macra rally back in 1980.

Bambrick pulled a rabbit out of his own hat on Saturday evening at the Kilkenny IFA dinner. The guest of honour was none other than His Excellency the Ambassador from the Kingdom Of Morocco, Lahcen Mahraoui.

Trade mission

Bambrick explained that the previous Kilkenny dinner had been held in Novermber 2016, on a date specifically selected to suit both Joe Healy and Michael Creed. When the appointed date came around, both were absent, on a trade mission to Morocco. In order to prevent a re-occurance, Johnny Bambrick invited the Moroccan Ambassador along on the night. Excellent.