This article is from page 30 of the 2005-10-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 30 JPG
THE IFA National Treasurer, Pad- raig Walshe has thrown his hat in the ring to become the next president of the organisation and has written to every IFA branch in Clare, canvass- ing for their support.
In a personal letter to the chairmen of all IFA branches in the county, Mr Walshe said that the new challenges facing Clare farmers demand a radi- cal new approach from the IFA in its dealings with the government, the EU and with all sectors of the food processing and retailing industry.
Mr Walshe, who is a beef and dairy farmer from Laois, also said
that his top priority as President of IFA will be to ensure a level playing field for farmers in the market place and in the operation of EU and na- tional schemes.
‘Farmers are being subjected to an increasing level of regulation which is unnecessary and unjustified and 1s putting them at a major competitive disadvantage relative to their coun- terparts in other EU states,” said Mr AWAD ates
‘Tam determined to eliminate the police-state mentality within our government departments and at EU level, which implies that farmers cannot be trusted to produce safe, quality food.”
Mr Walshe claims that more than 20 years of experience at the highest level in farming organisations puts him in a strong position to lead the IFA with commitment, energy and enthusiasm. He is a former President of Macra na Feirme and has served in a large number of senior positions in the IFA at national and county level, including National Chairman of the Dairy Committee.
“IT will also build new relation- ships with the processors, marketers and retailers of food with the aim of clawing back the margin that has been transferred from farmers into the supermarket bottom line,” he Loyal paLetsrem
Mr Walshe’s competition for the job will come from Raymond O’Malley from Louth and Rory Deasy form Roscrea. Both Walshe and O’ Malley ran for the presidency in 2001 when they lost out to the out- going president John Dillon.
Each of the 950 IFA branches in the country will be asked to elect the new IFA president when the election is held in early December. The suc- cessful candidate will be elected for two years with the option to run for a second two year term afterwards.
Traditionally, IFA presidents seek- ing a second term run unopposed for the position.