Ros' farmers call for IFA executive board to resign

Members of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in Roscommon have called for its executive board to resign in the aftermath of the pay controversy that has rocked the organisation in recent weeks.

Seventy people attended a meeting in Roscommon last Friday where the county's executive branch voted for the remaining members of the executive board to stand down.

Other executive branches in west Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Mayo, Meath, and Sligo also submitted resolutions to IFA headquarters in Dublin calling for more resignations ahead the next executive council meeting on December 15th.

The moves have increased pressure on the six members who are left on the board following the resignations of former general secretary Pat Smith and president Eddie Downey.

In Westmeath there were reports that angry members were cancelling their IFA subscriptions. A former county chairman said the organisation, “could be finished if it doesn’t get back on track very soon”.

Lake County farmers, furious at the salary and severance package paid to former general secretary Pat Smith and the handling of the controversy by senior figures, were reported to be cancelling the levies deducted from mart and factory sales.

The voluntary payment, which equates to around 10c in every €100, is one of the organisation’s biggest sources of income, bringing the IFA in some €4m last year.

Former Westmeath county chairman, Gordon Johnston, said he feared for the long-term future of the IFA.

“Farmers are very unhappy, they see themselves as being deceived,” he said.

Westmeath IFA chairman Kenneth Bray said he could understand why some farmers have cancelled their levies and that it will take time for organisation to regain the trust of members.

“They are angry and it’s because of the level of salary (for Mr Smith) and how it came to such a high level. We were led to believe that the general secretary was on the equivalent pay scale of the secretary general in the Department of Agriculture, but he obviously wasn’t.”

“It’s going to take time. It may take five or 10 years (to regain trust) and some members might never come back,” Mr Bray said.

“I feel very sorry for the staff in Tullamore in the regional office. They are getting more of the angry calls that I am getting. Every day, as soon as one phone call ends, there is another, my heart goes out to them.”