Last Wednesday (6 December) during the Westmeath hustings for the IFA Ulster/North Leinster regional chair, candidate and current Cavan IFA chair James Speares said: “I’m going to crack a joke here. The reason women have smaller feet is so they can get closer to the sink.”

Speares’ comment was in response to a question about encouraging more participation of both young people and women in IFA.

Since the story was first broken by the Irish Farmers Journal, James Speares has apologised unreservedly for his ‘joke’.

But there has been intense debate about whether the comment was a sexist remark or simply a joke that people shouldn’t take too seriously.

Farm organisations in Ireland were all accused of having a lack of female representation during the Irish Country Living Women & Agriculture conference this year, with only one woman on the IFA’s executive council and only one female president of Macra na Feirme in its 73 year history.

James Speares apologised on 12 December for his comments, which indicates that he believes his remarks were made in poor taste.

Kathleen Ward, the former Monaghan IFA chair told the Irish Farmers Journal that she does not believe Speares’ comments were appropriate.

“It’s something that creates an atmosphere where it’s believed that women are lesser to men,” Ward said.

It might only be a joke but it wasn’t men talking in the bathroom

She also put a question to James Speares at the Monaghan hustings on 12 December about his comments.

While Speares reiterated his apology, Ward still doesn’t believe that the comments were acceptable for an IFA election candidate.

“It might only be a joke but it wasn’t men talking in the bathroom, it was a man standing on an election platform.

“It pained me to have to ask him about it because I’ve received nothing but respect from my own colleagues in Monaghan IFA,” Ward concluded.

Kathleen Ward’s positive experience in the IFA, was not seconded however by former Kilkenny IFA county executive member Joan Fitzpatrick, who described her attempts to progress through the IFA leadership chain as “negative”.

Speaking in relation to the comments made by Speares, Fitzpatrick said: “I can’t believe that someone in this day and age would say that.

“If you hold the role of county chairman you represent all farmers, so you represent women as well.”

Fitzpatrick also requested that the IFA deliver a committee it promised at the Women & Agriculture conference to review the issue of female representation within the organisation.

I’ve always been treated with the utmost respect within the IFA

However, former North Cork IFA chair Mary Twomey-Casey told the Irish Farmers Journal that women “should take no notice of the comments”.

“I understand he said it as a joke and a joke is joke,” Twomey-Casey said.

“It’s the opposition putting legs under things, and I don’t believe in this kind of controversy.

“I’ve always been treated with the utmost respect within the IFA, and served shoulder to shoulder alongside men in the organisation without any issues,” Twomey-Casey concluded.

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