Kilkenny man John Bryan emerged victorious from Citywest where the IFA presidential elections took place on Tuesday this week.
Mr Bryan is to become the 13th president of the Irish Farmers Association taking over from current president Padraig Walshe.
Mr Bryan (51 ) who was a former Garda in Dublin until he inherited a farm from an aunt in Co Kilkenny returned home to his native Inistioge to work the land in 1980.
Mr Bryan who is also the former head of the organisation’s beef committee, and is the current chairman of the Kilkenny IFA was declared the comprehensive winner of the presidential election when he swept the boards cleaning up votes from all corners of the county winning all the regional contests.
It was clear from early on Tuesday that Mr Bryan would be the victor when the sorting of the votes from the 947 IFA branches and the counting finally took place.
He won 56 per cent of the branch votes around the country with a final tally of 1,147 branch votes,
He beat off competition from deputy president Derek Deane of Carlow, and of Richard Kennedy from Limerick. Derek Deane received 28 per cent of the vote while, Richard Kennedy received 16 per cent of the poll.
Eddie Downey from Slane, Co Meath, chairman of Meath IFA and former farm business chairman, was elected as Mr Bryan’s deputy for the next four years. He defeated Seán O’Leary of Cork, who was the outgoing Munster vice-president of the IFA.
Mr Bryan, owns a 230 acre dry-stock farm in Cappagh, Inistioge. He lives on the farm with his wife Rena and his two children Cathy and James. He farms 170 acres of his land and he rents out the remaining 60 acres.
On Tuesday evening after his victory he said that the size of his victory indicated he had received the support of all sectors in the IFA – dairy, sheep, tillage and beef sectors.
He described the IFA as a great organisation which was the lifeblood of rural Ireland, which generated €8.5 billion for the economy and 280,000 jobs, and called for a common-sense approach to the future.
He paid tribute to the defeated candidates and said the IFA was very lucky to have candidates of such calibre.
The president elect’s wife Rena and their children, were at the centre to witness the victory as Mr Bryan was carried shoulder high around the count centre, where close to 1,000 farmers from across the country had travelled to support their candidates.
Mr Bryan, is renowned for leading the campaign that led to the banning of Brazilian beef into the EU when he highlighted the lack of traceability and controls.
Mr Bryan will take over at the organisation’s AGM on January 12, in the Bluebell headquarters of the organisation.
