IFA general secretary Pat Smith’s resignation: how did we get here?

The Irish Farmers Journal reveals that Con Lucey has stepped down from the IFA audit committee.

During the executive council held on the side of the IFA AGM, county chairmen Derek Deane from Carlow, Tim Cullinan from Tipperary North, Pat Farrell from Kildare and Pat Hennessy from Laois propose a motion of no confidence in general secretary Pat Smith. President Eddie Downey counters with a motion expressing “strong confidence” in Smith. The council – the IFA’s parliament including representatives from all counties and committees – votes its confidence for Smith by 29 votes in favour, five against and several abstentions, including Deane’s. A final motion is adopted to state that confidence in the general secretary is unanimous.

Derek Deane reads a letter to the IFA executive council, calling for the disclosure of the general secretary’s salary. Deane makes assertions that Smith received a €400,000 pay package in 2013 and says that he “cannot stand over this”. He references the resignation of the entire Rehab board after it was revealed that the charity’s general secretary was paid in the region of €400,000. The council instead agreed to set up a revamped remuneration committee to set the pay of the IFA’s president and general secretary.

Deane makes his letter available to the media.

West Cork IFA passes a motion calling for the remuneration of the general secretary to be made known to the executive council, soon followed by Cavan. The motions mean the next council must discuss the issue of executive pay.

IFA president Eddie Downey writes to all members of the executive council to ask that “the strengthened Remuneration Committee be accepted and get on with its work”. According to him, it is “regrettable that any member of council would deliberately try to circumvent the authority of our governing body”. Downey adds that the remuneration committee will report to the next executive council meeting in December.

Fianna Fáil’s Agriculture spokesman Éamon Ó Cuív publicly supports Derek Deane’s calls to disclose the general secretary’s salary.

In an interview on the Drivetime radio programme, Derek Deane tells RTE that the pay package for the association's general secretary Pat Smith was in fact higher than €450,000 in 2013, which he deems “unacceptable”.

Pat Smith resigns.