DEAR SIR: Recently, I heard that Nuala Hourihane has retired as Secretary of the Irish Charolais Cattle Society. As a breeder of 20 years, I know Nuala for her hard work and dedication to Charolais cattle breeding and her relentless long hours at sales, shows and meetings around the country.

To me, she is a person who loves her work promoting Irish Charolais Cattle. What I can’t understand is that at all the meetings I attended over the past few months, including the society annual general meeting, Nuala’s retirement was never mentioned when other people announced theirs.

In my opinion, this raises questions about how this may have come about.

It is not my experience that knowledgeable people, who are passionate about what they do, retire out of the blue without forewarning and also have their successor well in place to ensure good running of the business.

Reading between the lines, this leads me to believe that there is more to her retirement than meets the eye.

I feel so strongly about this issue that I wish to bring this matter to the Charolais breeders attention. Nuala’s loss is a serious blow to our Charolais cattle breed at this difficult time.