The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) National Council, which met yesterday (Tuesday, May 14) has taken a decision to remove eight officers of the Kerry IFA Executive from their positions.
It comes as efforts to resolve long-standing issues between various members of the executive remain unsuccessful.
Agriland understands that the officers of Kerry Executive were recently asked to sign a certificate stating that they would accept the rules and the democratic decisions of the organisation.
While several members of the executive did sign this document, eight did not, prompting the National Council to invite these eight to yesterday’s meeting in Dublin to explain their positions.
However, none of these eight showed up to the meeting.
On foot of that, the council tabled two motions. One, a motion to suspend those eight members for a period of four years, was not pursued.
Another motion, to relieve the eight of their positions, was adopted.
It is understood that these members will be able to run for office within the organisation again once they sign the certificate.
Kerry IFA has been plagued with internal issues for much of the last two years, due to disputes between members.
In February, IFA president Francie Gorman chaired a meeting of the Kerry Executive. A letter from Gorman to executive members said that the purpose of the meeting was to “restore the orderly operations of the Kerry IFA County Executive”.
The IFA president said at the time that, if that was not possible, then he reserved the right to propose “that some, or all, of the officers and some members in Kerry are removed or suspended from office”.
Relations have been strained within the Kerry County Executive in recent years, with repeated calls for mediation to take place coming from some members.
In July 2022, Kerry IFA chairperson Kenny Jones made a formal complaint to IFA, headquarters mainly related to messages posted in the Kerry IFA messaging groups, and to messages sent directly to him.
Three members of the Kerry county executive were contacted by IFA headquarters in relation to the complaint, and one of them, Michael O’Dowd, was banned from holding an officer role in the organisation for four years, a decision he is understood not to have accepted.
This affair, along with a range of other unresolved issues in the executive, has caused deep divisions and impacted the operations of the IFA in Kerry.