Live blog: first IFA election debates

All three IFA election debates have now concluded for the night.

Candidates will now regroup, analyse their performances and prepare to do it all over again tomorrow, in some cases, and over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned to www.farmersjournal.ie and pick up this week’s paper to read the latest news from the debates taking place around the country this week.

Thanks to you, our readers, for tuning in.

West Cork IFA chair Donal O’Donovan calls time on the first hustings of this year's IFA election.

Francie Gorman said he’d make no apologies for looking for an ambitious environmental scheme: "We haven’t got that since REPS 3. I’m going to be an ambitious president. I’ll set the bar high and if I don’t jump, it won’t be for the want of trying.

Martin Stapleton said as president he’ll be honest and realistic.

"We’ll start by getting the small things right and I‘ll listen to every farmer so we can drive on the association."

A hill farmer from the floor argued that hill lambs are “finished”.

"Something has to be done because lads can’t keep going like this, to pay meal at €400/t, you need to sell 20 lambs to pay for it," he said.

In response to this, Martin Stapleton said that the budget should provide immediate aid for hill sheep farmers. The sector needs to be supported, he said.

Something has to be done because lads can’t keep going like this

Another farmer from the floor vocalised the challenges facing the tillage sector and added that no matter what grain price Dairygold decides on, it will not take the tillage sector “off life support”.

These issues are traced back to CAP again, Francie Gorman said, arguing that supports for the tillage sector have been cut since decoupling.

In Cork, the last round of questions for the presidential candidates featured the new suckler schemes, poor prices for hill lambs, raw sewage in rivers and high input costs.

From the floor, a farmer argued that commodity prices have collapsed, but costs haven’t.

Francie Gorman said in relation to the new SCEP and the controversial and costly inclusion of IBR testing that the IFA needs to look at how it is negotiating with Government.

The IFA, he added, needs to get into negotiations at an earlier stage and be more proactive about their asks.

In his closing remarks, Golden outlined his experience in the IFA to date and says at national level he does his best to represent farmers.

“As an organisation, one thing that can’t be forgotten is we are a lobby organisation. We lobby as hard as we can. We can’t give up. The challenge is big at the moment,” he said.

The challenge is big at the moment

Gallagher said he will be Connacht chair to “represent the farmers and citizens of the west”.

“It’s what ye want, not what I want. I can fight for ye’re rights. We need vibrant communities; we need young people. With the changing times, a lot of people can work from home. We need our young people back living among us,” he adds.

He says he will do his best for the people of Connacht.

Francie Gorman said that it is crucial that the live export trade is maintained.

"There were 100,000 calves exported to Holland this year. If they’re kept here, that’s an extra 2,000 cattle a week which would decimate the beef sector here in two years," he said. "We’ve got to keep that market open one way or another."

Martin Stapleton said: "We need to be cleaner than clean. We need to manage our calves better. We’ll have to resist the drive to make live exports a thing of the past.

We need to be cleaner than clean

"All of us who breed animals have to take responsibility for having those calves fit for market."

Both Connacht regional chair candidates were asked about the new forestry programme stipulations, ash dieback compensation and the replanting obligation.

The Government needs to intervene on ash dieback immediately, according to Gallagher.

“The farmer cannot be responsible; whoever was responsible for the importation of the disease is responsible,” he said.

Farmers planted trees in good faith and they need proper compensation, Gallagher reiterated.

Golden says he hates “the living sight of” forestry.

“It’s popping up all over the place,” he says. He doesn’t want forestry replacing suckler cows or ewes.

Limerick man Martin Stapleton said that the Minister “paraded” around marts in the country saying he was consulting farmers about the new CAP.

He argued that he didn’t consult them, he lectured them, he took the questions, ignored the questions and then went on with his lecture.

There was no negotiation on CAP and he went his own way and delivered his own CAP.

The number of farmers who were unaware of the changes coming to the derogation is also a fault of the Minister, he said.

In Galway, the candidates are asked how they will sustain the liquid milk sector.

Golden says: “I do think that it’s getting to the stage where there’s going to have to be joined-up thinking between co-ops on this. If one keeps undercutting the other on contracts, nothing is going to change.”

Gallagher responds by saying that supermarkets must not undervalue their product.

“It’s farmers on the board of co-ops, they can’t allow their product to be undervalued,” he adds.

A farmer asks what would the candidates say to the farmer in the video who was spreading slurry in the rain alongside a Gaelic football match in Cork recently?

Francie: "If we want to spread a good story as farmers, someone should tell them to go home and spread it on a different day."

Martin: "I would say to that farmer grow up and cop on, no excuse to spread it on a wet day and to spread beside a GAA pitch with a match on was foolish."

Farmers have come out in their droves to Macroom tonight and are listening attentively to candidates’ debates at the first of the IFA hustings in Cork.

Huge turnout at first @IFAmedia presidential hustings as the election campaign kicks off in Macroom this evening pic.twitter.com/2KTx4jtkhx

— Tommy Moyles (@taselyom) October 2, 2023

We’ve moved on to questions from the floor in Galway.

One farmer asked whether the IFA should have a dedicated team for live exports.

Golden responds saying that demand is fierce strong from Turkey, that is has hoovered up all the cattle in eastern Europe and is helping the beef trade.

“Live exports is a core thing that we drive all the time,” Golden says, adding that he wants to see as many cattle exported as possible.

Gallagher responds by saying that if the mart trade isn’t good, the factories don’t have to give it.

“The calves have to go [out of the country], there’s a market for them for veal. Should there be someone in the IFA dedicated to it? Yes, there should be,” he says.

Presidential candidate and Laois native Francie Gorman said that he will call for a €15,000 environmental scheme that is open to all farmers, including organic farmers.

“I’m not afraid of challenge and I’m not afraid of change,” he said.

Brendan Golden, Mayo suckler farmer, says that the challenges facing farmers are “due to EU policy and top-level Government policy as well”.

He said the value of farmers has been forgotten and it’s a huge challenge for the IFA going ahead.

“Every sector of farming is on its knees,” Golden says. None of the ambition that the Government has cannot be done without funding farmers, he warns.

“The word sustainability is bandied around all the time,” Golden says and adds that farms must be economically sustainable.

The IFA south Leinster debate draws to a close in Newbridge after candidates make their closing remarks.

“There has been a whole lot of stuff missed over the past few years,” says Tom Byrne in his closing speech, suggesting that the IFA has been asleep at the wheel on issues including the nitrates derogation cut and the EU nature restoration law.

If elected, he claims he will keep his “ear to the ground” and “support the all-day-everyday farmer”, while keeping lines of communication open with other farming groups.

“We don’t have to join them and we don’t need them to join us, but we have to talk to them,” Byrne concludes.

Farrell states that he will bring a “hard working and honest” character to the south Leinster chair seat, if elected.

All farm families can have a brighter future he maintained.

Last one to get their closing message across - Paul O’Brien tells farmers that his “work rate on big issues has never been questioned” within the IFA.

A vote for him will see the position focused on generating viable farm incomes and delivering a “long-term future” for farm families.

Stapleton criticised Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue over late payments.

He said if McConalogue was “minister for social welfare”, it wouldn’t be accepted.

The room is buzzing as the presidential debate gets under way.

Martin Stapleton is first to speak after Francie Gorman won the coin toss and chose to go second.

Stapleton lays out the four pillars of his campaign.

Leitrim sheep and suckler farmer James Gallagher said that if elected Connacht regional chair, he would advocate for “proper funding” for carbon storage on farms.

He questioned the ban on burning green waste “coupled with the use of diesel-powered mulching machines”.

Farmers need strong prices for beef and lamb, he said, adding that farmers must “receive fair compensation for their efforts”.

Gallagher said that the IFA must “fight for the live export of calves” and he said the steady export trade for beef cattle must be continued.

He said he didn’t know what deer numbers were like in Galway, but that deer are “out of control up our side” in Leitrim.

The Connacht regional chair debate has started.

Galway county chair Stephen Canavan says each candidate will be allocated 10 minutes to give an address and then there’ll be a half an hour of questions.

The @IFAmedia Connacht regional chair debate between Brendan Golden (Mayo) and James Gallagher (Leitrim) has kicked off in Athenry, Co Galway. @farmersjournal pic.twitter.com/p5Ag8NPDpU

— Amy Forde (@amyforde6) October 2, 2023

Tonight's event in Macroom is jointly hosted by the Cork central and west Cork IFA executives.

West Cork chair Donal O’Donovan takes over as master of ceremonies from Conor O’Leary for the presidential hustings, which are about to begin.

The deliberate and knowing flouting of slurry rules should be clamped down on, but incentives must remain to increase storage, says Paul O’Brien in response to a question from the floor.

“It’s up to the Department to police the rules that’s there,” Pat Farrell comments. However, it’s not up to farmers to “squeal” on other farmers, Farrell adds.

Tom Byrne, who is an agri contractor, refuses to spread slurry out of season whenever the period closes and he receives a call to do so.

“We need to get our house in order,” said Byrne.

In reply to the question on gender balance, neither Doyle nor Murphy objected to two nominees being appointed.

However, Doyle said that Teagasc will pick the best person for the job, while Murphy said that Teagasc needs to focus more on supporting farmers in marginal areas.

At the south Leinster husting, Tom Byrne begins by stating that “the IFA was once a strong power” but that unfortunately it has “lost its power”.

Byrne mentions his “proud” involvement with Beef Plan, saying the movement made processors afraid of farmers who need beef.

He claims he was too “radical” to have ever sat on an IFA committee at national level.

Tom Byrne claims he was "too radical" to have ever sat on an IFA committee at national level.

He is "proud" of his involvement with Beef Plan as it made processors fear for beef supplies.@farmersjournal pic.twitter.com/rxiUEf0zjn

— Noel Bardon (@NoelBardon) October 2, 2023

Munster chair Harold Kingston fires in a tricky question.

How do the candidates feel that the IFA postilion on the Teagasc board may not necessarily go to the deputy president in light of gender balance and two names may have to be put forward.

Responses to follow.

TB control issues feature prominently in Pat Farrell’s speech.

He mentions his campaign which encouraged farmers to burn Department letters informing farmers of its intention to introduce herd TB risk notices.

“The Department didn’t get their way on TB,” he said, adding that more pressure should have been heaped on the Department for scheme payment delays.

Pat Murphy up now. He says Cork farmers are innovators and he has learned a lot from them over the years. Very firm on his disappointment with derogation and mentions how he attended the rally in Bandon earlier in the summer and as a derogation farmer himself, he knows what those farmers concerns are.

He says the IFA must ensure the nature restoration law doesn’t come in through the back door. He added that the recent suckler scheme helps everyone bar the farmer.

"We need to see a menu of options there. We are seeing the demise of the suckler farm right across the country."

He goes past two bells and three calls from Conor O’Leary to wrap up for the third time.

A retired principal and farmer’s wife from Co Carlow, Alice Doyle said that if she is elected as deputy president of the IFA, she will bring the same strength and value to the table that every woman has brought to the kitchen table in Ireland.

She added that she is goal orientated and capable of making difficult decisions when they have to be made.

“I understand the unique challenges and dynamic of Irish agriculture. It’s non-farmers who are making our rules and regulations and we need to get them on our side. I think I am the best person to do the job going forward. I understand the many challenges that face family farms.”

The bell was rung twice for Doyle who received a warm round of applause upon her final points.

Co Kilkenny’s Paul O’Brien, Kildare’s Pat Farrell and Wicklow’s Tom Byrne are all in Newbridge, Co Kildare, for the IFA south Leinster husting.

Current IFA environmental chair Paul O’Brien is the first speaker up before farmers. He begins by setting out his own history of involvement with the IFA, which began around the beef blockades of 2000.

“We could not blockade the factories, I thought that was fundamentally unfair,” says O’Brien.

O’Brien states that he has been involved with the IFA at “some level for the past 20-odd years” and “always had an interest in environmental issues”.

Farmers need more time and more money to deliver on environmental challenges, he said.

First IFA South Leinster hustings kicks off in Newbridge, Co Kildare.@farmersjournal pic.twitter.com/Ioj5qSRrfS

— Noel Bardon (@NoelBardon) October 2, 2023

Some previous IFA election statistics in terms of turnout:

Bell calling all to order, debates imminent - "not bad for west Cork time" quips one farmer. Nearly at standing room only as Cork central chair Conor O’Leary presides over proceedings.

Candidates have seven minutes each to speak, followed by 30 minutes of questions and answers before finishing with a one-minute wrap up. Alice Doyle first up.

If you’re wondering where and when this week’s round of hustings are taking place, wonder no more. Here’s a breakdown of this week’s venues.

Two candidates are in the running to be the next president of the IFA, current south Leinster chair Francie Gorman and current national treasurer Martin Stapleton.

The first week of IFA election hustings kicks off with three seperate debates on Monday.https://t.co/J0UATIgw90

— Irish Farmers Journal (@farmersjournal) October 2, 2023

The Castle Hotel, Macroom, Co Cork, is the venue for the first of 16 debates in the campaigns for IFA president and deputy president. Macroom, the town that never reared a fool, is first to put the candidates through their paces. The murmur in the room is getting louder and deputy president candidates Alice Doyle from Wexford and Pat Murphy from Galway have taken their seats.

The scene is set and seats are laid out in Macroom tonight for the first of 16 IFA presidential debates.

Firstly, the 2 vice president candidates, Alice Doyle and Pat Murphy, will go head-to-head followed then by Francie Gorman and Martin Stapleton who’re running for president pic.twitter.com/FH9rehRhW7

— Rachel Donovan (@Rachel_Donovan_) October 2, 2023

The first debate in the Connacht regional chair debate will get under way at 9pm in the Raheen Woods Hotel in Athenry, once the Galway county executive meeting has concluded.

For the first time, members will receive their vote in the post and they can either return the vote by post or cast their vote at their branch AGM for the presidential election. For the regional chair positions, voting will take place on the night of each debate.

The election count will take place on 12 December.

There is also an election for three regional chairs in the IFA - Connacht, Munster and south Leinster. Each candidate has been nominated by their own county executive to run.

James Gallagher from Leitrim and Brendan Golden from Mayo will run for regional chair in Connacht.

Mark Connors from Waterford, Francis Foley from Kerry and Conor O’Leary from Cork central have been nominated to run in Munster.

Tom Byrne from Wicklow, Pat Farrell from Kildare and Paul O’Brien from Kilkenny will contest the south Leinster regional chair position.

The only regional debates on this evening are in Connacht and south Leinster.

There are two candidates in the running for IFA president - Francie Gorman from Laois and Martin Stapleton from Limerick, both hoping to be the 17th president of the IFA.

Gorman has said he wants to restore farmers’ belief in the association. You can read more on that here.

Stapleton said he wants to lead the defence of farmers. More on that here.

Pick up a copy of this week’s Irish Farmers Journal to read an in-depth interview with both candidates.

There are also two candidates in the deputy presidential race. They are Alice Doyle from Wexford and Pat Murphy from Galway.

Good evening and welcome to the Irish Farmers Journal’s live blog of the first debates in the this year’s Irish Farmers Association (IFA) elections.

Over the course of the next few hours, the Irish Farmers Journal news team will bring you the latest news and views from tonight’s debates.

Rachel Donovan and Tommy Moyles will be reporting from Macroom, Co Cork, where the first of 16 presidential debates gets under way at 8pm.

Noel Bardon will be reporting from Newbridge, where the first south Leinster chair debate will take place, and Amy Forde is in Athenry at the first Connacht debate.

The debates will run for the next month, right up until Monday 30 October. In all, there will be 16 debates that cover each of the 29 IFA county executives. Debates for the regional chairs will also take place from tonight.