A draft letter calling on Castleisland Mart to suspend the collection of the voluntary IFA levy has been seen by the Irish Farmers Journal.

The letter, in the name of a number of officers of Kerry IFA, states that “there is currently no IFA in the county due to allegations brought by the county chairman against members of the county executive”.

Kerry IFA chair Kenny Jones’ complaint against the then Kerry IFA dairy chair, Michael O’Dowd, was the subject of a disciplinary process in recent months, which then resulted in the national council of IFA suspending O’Dowd from all elected positions for four years.

At the time of writing, the letter had not been officially received by Castleisland Mart.

Kerry IFA held elections at its 2023 AGM in April.

Kenny Jones was re-elected to the chair by the members of Kerry IFA, albeit by the smallest of margins.

The Irish Farmers Journal understands that a meeting of Kerry IFA officers was held since the AGM.

Despite being suspended from holding an officer’s position in the IFA, Michael O’Dowd turned up at that meeting, which was subsequently adjourned, with his presence described by one attendee as “impossibly disruptive”.