John O’Beirne was endorsed by his own county, Roscommon, for the position of Connacht regional chair on Monday night. At that stage, two other men had endorsements from their own counties, Galway’s Tom Turley and Mayo’s Padraic Joyce.

On Tuesday night, Sligo nominated Eddie Davitt for the position. In order to become a candidate in the race, the hopefuls needed a second nomination from a county in the region. With only five counties in Connacht, the deciding vote fell to Leitrim.

Leitrim’s endorsement of O’Beirne means he is so far the only candidate in the race for this position.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, O’Beirne said he was “delighted” to get the nomination and endorsement from Leitrim.

“At the minute I’m the only official candidate in the field but that could change between now and next Wednesday. I’m delighted but I’m not jumping up and down about it yet either.”

O’Beirne’s hesitancy to celebrate the endorsement fully stems from the fact that one of the other nominees could drop out of the race between now and next Wednesday, the day nominations close, leaving the nominating county free to endorse another candidate.

Completed nomination and acceptance forms for the position of regional chair must be received no later than 5.30pm on Wednesday 3 February 2016.

Additional reporting by Patrick Donohoe

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O'Beirne confirmed as a candidate in race for IFA Connacht chair

After an endorsement by Leitrim IFA county executive on Wednesday night, former Roscommon IFA chair John O'Beirne is so far the only confirmed candidate in the race for IFA Connacht regional chair.