I hear Martin Crowe, a familiar face to all in Limerick and Kerry dairy circles, was elected to the board of Kerry Co-op on Monday night.

He will fill the east Limerick seat previously occupied by Seamus Crawford who resigned due to his opposition to the details of proposed takeover of Kerry Group’s Irish dairy operations.

For the 19 co-op board members, the real power position is to get selected as one of the magnificent seven who would also have a seat on the board of Kerry Dairy Ireland should the vote pass – the people who we are told would have the power to set the Kerry milk price. That really is six seats available because Tangney is signed up for the next three years.

I understand, however, that there is some unfortunate timing for Crowe in his election – the process for board members to put their name forward for one of the power-positions closed for entrants on Monday.

It seems Crowe missed the opportunity to put his name into the hat by a matter of hours. How very terribly unlucky.