The Irish Farmers Journal had maintained the IFA presidential election would be close, but nobody could have anticipated the drama that unfolded at the IFA election count on Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The presidential election was the closest in memory, with Angus Woods, Tim Cullinan and John Coughlan frequently separated by less than a hundred votes.

And still it was the least close election of the day, as handfuls of votes decided the other contests.

When it was all over, Tim Cullinan was confirmed as the 16th president of the IFA. He’s the fourth to come from Tipperary, and the second from North Tipp, we were reminded by his Toomevara supporters.

It’s a tribute to the membership of the IFA that they would elect a farmer from a minority enterprise

Coming from the county that iconic leaders Rickard Deasy, TJ Maher and Joe Rea hailed from gives him big boots to fill.

It’s some achievement for a farmer who started out with a handful of cows on 20 acres and went on to build a massive pig enterprise.

It’s a tribute to the membership of the IFA that they would elect a farmer from a minority enterprise.

The turnout overall was 22,885, which has to be seen as more than credible.

Deep analysis of the low turnout areas is for another day, but a turnout of almost one-third of the IFA’s 72,000 members would compare very well with any comparable election for, say, the INTO or Siptu.

Cullinan in the end received a decisive mandate from that membership, defeating John Coughlan by 11,497 votes to 9,947.

Now he takes on the challenge of representing Ireland’s farmers when the pressure on incomes and on the environmental impact of farming’s footprint is intense and intensifying.