IFA Kilkenny hustings: young farmers and communication key issues

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) election hustings continued on Thursday night, with farmers from Kilkenny and Carlow hearing from the deputy presidential and presidential candidates in Goresbridge.

The deputy presidential debate saw candidates Alice Doyle and Pat Murphy discuss a range of farm and IFA issues including the role of young farmers and IFA communications.

On getting more young farmers involved in IFA, Galway farmer Pat Murphy said that older members in IFA should either “move up or get out” to make room for younger members on committees.

“We’ve got to make room for the young farmers coming through,” he told the 200-strong crowd in Goresbridge, adding that older members should then come back and support younger committee members, but not keep holding their spot.

Murphy said the IFA needs to ask younger farmers and members “what can we do for you?” as a means of improving youth participation.

Wexford farmer Alice Doyle said that the IFA needs to demonstrate what the association can do and does. “We need to prove that we’re offering young farmers something,” she said.

She highlighted that Macra is growing nationwide, particularly in the southeast, and said that members of the young farmer organisation need to be invited to more IFA meetings.

On this, she suggested that the IFA needs to be more adaptive, with a proposal to run meetings in mornings, rather than late at night, a time she said many farm walks and discussion groups are held.

Communication

A question recurring at a number of the IFA hustings so far, young farmer Michael Joyce queried the deputy presidential candidates on the how they would improve IFA’s communications.

Doyle acknowledged that at times farmers, and the IFA, are currently “talking to ourselves”. She highlighted that the farming vote is getting smaller and said that as a sector “we are irrelevant to a lot of TDs” now.

The Wexford farmer described her insight into radio listenership, explaining that most people listen to radio from 7am to12pm and that the highest proportion of these listeners are women, and urban women.

“We have a good story to tell she said,” adding that it is this population cohort that farmers need to focus on.

Doyle said that one person, such as the IFA president of the day, “can only know so much”, and that therefore, there should be better utilisation of the IFA’s team of professionals for media interviews.

Murphy said that the IFA has “lost the media battle” despite it having a “very good professional base supporting us”.

He claimed that RTÉ is biased towards farmers and that, in his opinion, the national broadcaster brands farmers as climate deniers.