A local issue was the catalyst for the main flashpoint at the fourth IFA presidential election hustings in Dungarvan, Co Waterford on Monday evening.

Two farmers were highly critical of candidate Tim Cullinan for his handling of a procedural wrangle that occurred at the Waterford IFA AGM back in January.

I dealt with the situation, while others shirked their responsibility

At that January meeting a motion calling for the IFA rules and privileges chair Tim Cullinan and secretary Bryan Barry to step down was proposed and passed after the committee decided to consult legal advice following the decision of the county chair to exclude Breda Keane from the contest on the grounds that her nominations were invalid, not having been gained at branch meetings.

Cullinan strongly defended his handling of the disputed contest for the dairy chair position in the Déise county.

"I dealt with the situation, while others shirked their responsibility," he said, to little reaction from the majority of the room.

Truth be told, it was the only controversial moment over the night's proceedings, as the three candidates were repeatedly grilled on their solutions to income issues in farming.

Beef prices and protests

Beef prices were unsurprisingly the dominant issue. John Coughlan and Angus Woods both said that the beef protests, while understandable, occurred at the wrong time.

"We had the second highest prices in Europe at the time of the protests," said Coughlan, calling for the Beef Taskforce to sit within 48 hours to address the issue once again.

Woods highlighted the backlog of cattle now built up, and earlier referred to the comparative success of the approach the IFA had taken in securing the €100m Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) fund.

"That money came directly from the acknowledgement of the losses related to Brexit by the civil dialogue group I chair in Brussels," Woods said.

Cullinan said the protests "were borne out of frustration and we [IFA] stood back".

"The factories have built a wall of cattle," he added.

Other issues to feature included the dairy calf issue, the nitrates derogation, and CAP reform.

Earlier, Brian Rushe and Thomas Cooney both impressed in the deputy presidential debate.

With four of the 17 debates now concluded, the contests are taking shape. The next hustings is in Kilkenny on Wednesday 30 October in the Springhill Hotel at 8.30pm.