The former IFA general secretary Pat Smith will step back in time when he addresses a branch meeting of the farm organisation in north Cork later this month.

The Dealer hears that Smith will address the Castletownroche branch of the IFA at the end of November. It is understood that the Meath man’s presentation will focus on the merits of solar panels and renewable energy.

Smith’s invitation to north Cork comes seven years after his tumultuous IFA exit, following uproar within the farm body over pay levels to senior executive staff.

However, his subsequent rise in the renewable energy space – Smith is CEO of Local Power and chair of the Micro-Renewable Energy Federation – proves that there is life outside Bluebell.

While much has changed in the farm scene since Smith’s IFA departure in 2015, the perennial complaints around cattle prices and CAP will surely be raised by someone in Castletownroche – if only to remind the former leader of bygone days.