One soothing word to help get over the IFA ‘kerfuffle’

Damian McCarney
At the Hotel Kilmore

Which was the bigger storm? Desmond, or the salary debacle involving IFA head honchos Pat Smith and Eddie Downey?
Neither was severe enough to prevent an almost full house from gathering at the Hotel Kilmore on Friday night, as Cavan IFA marked their 60th anniversary - and both percolated through the pre-dinner chit-chat. No doubt Desmond persuaded a handful of IFA members to stoke up the fire and suffer The Late Late Show, while outside of the former IFA president and general secretary, who were originally pencilled in as the guest speakers, it’s impossible to guess how many were deterred by the eruption of the salary scandal. So then, it would be left up to Michael Berkery, current FBD chairman and Pat Smith’s predecessor, who has warned that his salary was protected by a confidentiality agreement, to launch the book. Nope, Michael Berkery offered his apologies and FBD’s John McCullen ably deputised for the event.
Now in the first three sentences, the Celt has called it a “storm”, a “debacle” and a “scandal” and could yank a few more choice terms from the Celt’s hack-tionary if needed; the speakers on Friday night slipped on kid gloves as they opted for more muted terms: “kerfuffle,” “disturbances”, “circumstances that we’re in”, “troubled situation” and “upset”.
During the understandably muted celebrations - there was doubt over whether it would go ahead in the week leading up to it - first up to the lectern was Mr McCullen of FBD Trust, which sponsored ‘From Poles to Parnell Square’. He was delighted to launch the beautifully produced commemorative book. He used the opportunity to broach the Association’s current “kerfuffle”.
“In the circumstances that we’re in, I just want to tell you... I suppose a farmers’ organisation is needed, and whether it’s the NFA or the IFA or whatever it is, it’s needed and it’s needed bad.”
He outlined that in 2014 the average farm income was €15,000, €10,000 of which came from Brussels “in one shape or another”.
“So, unless we have someone in Brussels or attached to Brussels,” he continued, “we are wasting our time. And the IFA provided that over the last 40 years.
“Whatever kerfuffle is going on at the moment, or disturbances, they need to get settled, they need to move on and they need to be doing the real work and beyond that I don’t think I need to say anything more, I’m sure you all agree.”
And the warm round of applause suggested they did.
County Chairman Jim Speares correctly called the IFA “a highly respected organisation, which we are all justly proud of” and then addressed the 'ongoing troubled situation'.
“As an organisation, we are very much dependent on the continuing support of our grass-root members, during good times and bad times and never as much as during the present ongoing troubled situation that we are experiencing. With your help we can overcome this upset and I have no doubt that the IFA will be a better and stronger organisation than ever before.”

‘Something’
Then it was Jer Bergin - the IFA’s national treasurer who reportedly refused to sign-off on Pat Smith’s golden, or maybe platinum, handshake, and now finds himself amongst the front runners for Eddie Downey’s old number.
Acknowledging that it has “been a difficult few weeks for the Association and everyone involved in the leadership”, though, he was reluctant to get too serious on what was supposed to be a social night.
“But at the same time,” he began, “as your national treasurer I do feel that I have to say something to the membership.”
The Celt’s money was on that ‘something’ being ‘hullabaloo’. Any takers on ‘brouhaha’? How wrong we were.
“In particular, just to say sorry, for the place that we find ourselves in.”
With that one simple, contrite word - sorry - it rendered redundant all the well-intended, understatements that went before. The mood lifted.

Straighten
“We, in whatever role we have, are committed to fixing the problems, straighten things up - we have been trying to do that for a good while, we’re going to stay at it for as long as you want us to do it and that’s our job, that’s our responsibility at the moment.”
He then harked back to the achievements of those trailblazers who took part in the NFA rally where thousands rose to march on Dublin back in 1966, which proved to both government and convinced rural Ireland itself, that farmers could have their voices heard.
“In the context of the people who marched in ‘66, the three gentlemen here, we have to go back to core values and what they stood for, and what they did for the farmers of Cavan at that time.
“We need IFA more than ever, and it’s in farmers’ interests that we reset, and I have a firm belief in IFA core values - it’s very simple to me - campaigning for farmers’ rights and farmers’ incomes and farmers representing farmers - we need to get back to that as quick as we possibly can.”