Jerry Long will succeed Michael Spellman as president of the Irish Co-Operative Organisation Society (ICOS).

Long takes up his role immediately. From The Ragg, Co Tipperary, he is a dairy farmer and milk supplier to Drombane Co-operative. He has been chair of the ICOS Dairy Committee since 2015.

“My strong focus and that of our organisation will be to work to help co-operatives to further develop the resilience of their businesses,” he said.

Environment

“The environment will, quite rightly, be a huge focus from now on, but in parallel, we need to ensure that our model of farming and food production is resilient and sustainable for the benefit of farm families and rural communities.

“The dramatic increase in milk production, with over €200m in additional income for rural areas every year since 2015, has been hugely positive for rural communities. We must now focus on making the next phase of that expansion fully sustainable and resilient.”

Imbalance

The new ICOS president also said that he would work to address the imbalance between the dairy and livestock sectors.

“We will campaign to deliver a model, supported by a well-funded CAP, that allows drystock farmers to capitalise on opportunities to deliver quality beef and lamb production, while being fully rewarded for their substantial services to the environment and the food supply chain,” he said.

At the same meeting, James O'Donnell was re-elected vice-president. He represents the National Co-operative Farm Relief Services and is a dairy farmer in Golden, Co Tipperary, supplying Dairygold Co-op.

ICOS (the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society) represents over 130 co-operatives in Ireland – including the Irish dairy processing co-operatives and livestock marts – whose associated businesses have a combined turnover in the region of €14bn, with some 150,000 individual members, employing 12,000 people in Ireland, and a further 24,000 people overseas.

Read more

'Climate change is the challenge of our generation and generations to come'