At the close of nominations today at 12pm, IFA deputy president and acting national returning officer, Brian Rushe, confirmed that sufficient nominations had been received for Francie Gorman from Laois and Martin Stapleton from Limerick. Francie Gorman has been nominated by Laois IFA and the following county chairs: Maurice Brady (Cavan), Jim Mulhall (Kilkenny), Pat Walsh (Offaly), Stephen Canavan (Galway) and Baden Powell (North Tipperary). Martin Stapleton has been nominated by Limerick IFA and the following county chairs: Thomas Byrne (Wicklow), Conor O’Leary (Cork Central), Pat Leonard (Roscommon), Donal O’Donovan (Cork West) and John Carroll (Louth).
Two candidates will contest the election for deputy president of IFA: Alice Doyle from Wexford and Pat Murphy from Galway.
Alice Doyle has been nominated by Wexford IFA and the following county chairs: Jim Mulhall (Kilkenny), Conor O’Leary (Cork Central), Baden Powell (Tipperary North), Joe Sweeney (Donegal), Dermot Ward (Meath).
Pat Murphy has been nominated by Galway IFA and the following county chairs: Patrick Walsh (Offaly), Donal O’Donovan (Cork West), Thomas Lane (Clare), Patrick McCormack (Monaghan) and Pat Leonard (Roscommon).
Three regional chairs are up for re-election. They are Connacht, Munster and South Leinster. Each candidate has been nominated by their own County Executive. James Gallagher from Leitrim and Brendan Golden from Mayo will run for regional chair in Connacht. Mark Connors from Waterford, Francis Foley from Kerry and Conor O’Leary from Cork Central have been nominated to run for Munster regional chair. Tom Byrne from Wicklow, Pat Farrell from Kildare and Paul O’Brien from Kilkenny will contest the South Leinster regional chair position.
Brian Rushe said a robust democratic process is a cornerstone of the IFA: “All our branch officers, county officers and national officers are elected by farmers. The president and deputy president of IFA are elected directly by members. They are truly representative of farmers and they carry a genuine mandate once elected,” he said.
Election debates will take place in October and further details will be available in the coming days. Debates for the regional chairs will also take place in October, with voting on the night of each debate. Members will receive their vote in the post and they can either return the vote by post or cast their vote at their branch AGM. The election count will take place on December 12.