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The six remaining members of the IFA executive board met on Sunday and agreed to allow a full set of elections, pending a rule change that would facilitate them standing for re-election should they choose to.
The election would take place at the same time as that for the president of the IFA.
The board is proposing a rule change under which all senior positions in the IFA (president, deputy president, four regional chairmen and national treasurer) would "revert to two two-year terms" of office.
This rule change requires approval from the executive council, which is scheduled to meet this Tuesday.
The executive board currently comprises the four regional chairman, James McCarthy, Bert Stewart, Tom Turley and James Murphy, and deputy president Tim O’Leary and acting chairman and treasurer Jer Bergin.
In the past, the election of president and deputy president took place at the same time and this likely to be the case again, subject to the rule change.
Nominations for the president close this Wednesday at 5.30pm and in previous years, nominations for president and deputy closed at the same time. It would be impractical to have nominations for the deputy president also in for this Wednesday. Therefore, an extension will be required for deputy president nominations. This means that current deputy president Tim O'Leary will stay on in that role until an election takes place. Current national treasurer and IFA national chairman Jer Bergin will also stay in situ until an election is held.
The national treasurer/returning officer is elected by the executive council. The regional chairmen are elected by the members of county executives, including those representing local branches.
Donal O'Brien, who originally called for a protest at the next IFA executive council meeting on Tuesday, has said that he is "asking the many members from throughout the country who supported the objective, to hold off on our planned protest" in light of the recent developments. It remains to be seen if all the protesters will now call off their action.
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