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Munster farmer joins race for top IFA job
A THIRD candidate has entered the race to replace Pádraig Walshe as president of the 85,000-strong Irish Farmers Association (IFA). Mr Walshe finishes his four-year term in January.
Richard Kennedy, the current chairman of the organisation’s dairy committee, from Clarina, Co Limerick, has declared his intention to contest the race for the top position.
Two other candidates have already declared their intention to run. They are John Bryan, a Co Kilkenny beef farmer, and Derek Deane, from Wicklow, who is deputy president of the organisation.
Although the Limerick man had been widely tipped as a contender from the outset, Mr Kennedy delayed his announcement for almost a month after Mr Deane and Mr Bryan declared.
The arrival of the Munster-based dairy farmer into the contest has made the outcome even more difficult to predict in what is shaping up to be a fascinating competition.
“The bottom line is that I am the dairy committee chairman and I did not want to compromise my work in that area by starting an election campaign any sooner than now,” said Mr Kennedy, explaining his delayed announcement.
“I realise I’m late into the ring but whoever wins this election should not be judged on when he came into the race but whether he is good enough for the job,” added Mr Kennedy, who is a former president of Macra na Feirme, the organisation for young farmers.
Until his declaration, the membership had been faced with a choice between two Leinster-based candidates who are involved in the drystock business.
Mr Kennedy’s candidacy from a Munster base and his high-profile involvement in the dairy industry mean the competition will be very hard fought.
The outcome will be decided by the votes of the IFA branches throughout the Republic and a PR system is in place, which makes the outcome very difficult to call even for insiders in the organisation.
Kennedy joins race for IFA's top job
The IFA presidential race has been thrown wide open after dairy committee chairman Richard Kennedy confirmed that he will contest the election on December 21.
Although the Limerick man had been widely tipped as a contender from the outset, Mr Kennedy delayed his announcement for almost a month after Derek Deane and John Bryan made their declarations.
"The bottom line is that I am the dairy committee chairman and I did not want to compromise my work in that area by starting an election campaign any sooner than now," said Mr Kennedy.
"I realise I'm late into the ring but whoever wins this election should not be judged on when he came into the race but whether he's good enough for the job," he added.
Mr Kennedy, who runs a dairy farm in Clarina, Co Limerick, has been IFA dairy chairman since 2006 and is a former national president of Macra na Feirme.
IFA insiders believe the Limerick man's entry into the election will totally change the dynamics of the contest.
Both Mr Deane and Mr Bryan are both from drystock backgrounds and are battling from neighbouring bases in Carlow and Kilkenny. In contrast, Mr Kennedy will take a high proportion of votes from Munster delegates and will also receive strong backing from dairy farmers.
Kennedy's move opens up race for IFA presidency
"I have already done ferocious work for John Bryan. I withdrew from that campaign after hearing Richard's announcement but I can't take any further part in the election. I have to remain neutral. Otherwise my credibility would be in tatters," said David Thompson.
The position of the former IFA president John Dillon is unclear. Mr Dillon could not be contacted this week. He was the principal speaker at the launch of John Bryan's campaign nearly two months ago, and has already canvassed in several counties for him. But he told the Limerick Leader three weeks ago that he would withdraw if Kennedy ran.
One Limerick dairy farmer who attended the launch of the Bryan campaign in Kilkenny, the Limerick dairy leader, Mike O'Flynn of Newcastle West has pledged his full support now to Richard Kennedy.
"I went to John Bryan's launch, but I am backing the Limerick man now. I'm giving my full support to Richard. Why wouldn't I?"
Mr Kennedy's candidature has thrown the IFA presidential race wide open. Insiders say that he has an excellent chance of winning based on his record as National dairy chairman over the past four years as well as a lifetime commitment to Irish farming. He also has the advantage of being the only Munster candidate - the other two candidates John Bryan and the current vice president Derek Deane are based close to each other in Kilkenny and Carlow - and he is also the only dairy farmer in the contest, with livestock interests as well.
He's a former national president of Macra na Feirme and farms at Clarina with his wife Helen and son James. Despite all the current woes, he has never lost his faith in the future of dairying and says that his work as national dairy chairman will continue to the end and will not be compromised by his election campaign.
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The IFA dairy leader thanked the sponsors and said that he was honoured to accept the award on behalf of 20,000 Irish dairy farmers, who are now swept up in one of the most challenging times in the history of the industry.
"I accept it," he said, "on behalf of 20,000 Irish dairy farmers who are business people in their own right and who still control their own businesses both inside and outside the farm gate.
"I'd also like to point out that the livelihoods of thousands of Irish workers depend on the continuation of milk production here," he said.
With world dairy markets in turmoil, Mr Kennedy carries the hopes and aspirations of milk producers, not just in Limerick, but throughout the country.
A dairy farmer himself, he has been national chairman of IFA's dairy committee for over two years and is seen by many as a possible future leader of the 85,000-strong farming organisation.
But for now at least, he's nonchalant about his own ambitions.
"I didn't take on this job for self-advancement," he said. "In the next six months, the Irish dairy industry will be facing one of its biggest ever challenges and that is all I am focusing on for now."
A very articulate lobbyist, his work takes him from the board rooms of the giant milk processors to the corridors of power in Dublin and Brussels.
But he's no purveyor of doom.
"No matter how bad things may seem, I always try to be constructive," he said. "My firm belief is that God never closes one door, but he opens another."
He has already served at national level, as a former president of Macra na Feirme, having joined the Ballybrown branch at the age of 18
The first day he signed up to Macra, he was elected secretary of the club and later served in every position in the county before becoming national president.
But despite performing on the national stage of agri-politics, he still believes in maintaining his local community involvement.
He was the first chairman of Clarina / Ballybrown Community Council at a time of great change in the parish.
He has just stepped down after a three year term, but continues as an active member.
Dairy farmers couldn't have a better advocate than the unassuming, but steely and determined Clarina man.
"Farmers have a lot more clout than they think," he said.
"We're all inclined to think we can only influence what happens inside our own farm gates. But we have a far wider influence than that.After all we do still own our businesses."
He played hurling with Ballybrown in his younger days, and says that having to give up playing was "one of the sacrifices" he had to make when he became a farming activist.
He also played a bit of rugby with Shannon and is an avid Munster fan.
He farms with his wife, Helen, and son, James, at Clarina.
He and Helen have four other children, Annemarie, who is nurse; Thomas, an accountant; Elaine who has just graduated in Science; Jane who is studying Food Science and Elizabeth, a Leaving Cert student at Laurel Hill.