"Just when I thought I was out ... they pull me back in.”

We’re not insinuating that either Phil Hogan or Michael Treacy are the Godfather but The Dealer notes with interest an appointment coming out of Brussels this week. Former IFA Brussels rep Michael Treacy was one of a few senior strategists and politicos to get a shiny new advisory position with European Commissioners.

Treacy’s appointment does not mean that he will join Hogan’s existing cabinet of Peter Power, Dermot Ryan, Tom Tynan, Kevin Keary and others; rather, he is more of an external adviser to the former Fine Gael minister for the environment.

Treacy’s experience and track record is unquestionable. He had a major impact behind the scenes in protecting Irish farmers’ interests over the years, particularly in relation to the evolving Common Agricultural Policy. He was also a big hitter in the world trade deal talks, always representing the needs of Irish family farms on the global stage.

Maybe Hogan already had a plan for the mover and shaker extraordinaire. At Treacy’s retirement gig in Brussels last December, Hogan displayed his admiration for the lobbyist.

“Michael Treacy is a true giant of Irish and European agriculture. I am sure we have not seen the last of him yet and I wish him well in his retirement,” Hogan said.

Elsewhere, a name that has played an enormous part in how every farmer’s Basic Payment Scheme cheque will look this year has also gotten a new job. Phil Hogan’s predecessor, Romania’s Dacian Ciolos, has been appointed special adviser on food security to the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker.

Juncker, who has the impending implosion of the eurozone to contend with, clearly still sees the need to have a political big hitter in that area.

Ciolos oversaw the latest CAP reform which people in Ireland either despise or just get on with. No middle ground there.

Ciolos’ position is understood to be unpaid.