Laois man Francie Gorman has been elected as the new president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
After an extensive campaign Gorman was elected at today’s count in the Castleknock Hotel in Dublin.
He totalled 16,699 votes out in comparison to Martin Stapleton’s 13,201 to become the association’s president for the next four years, taking over from Tim Cullinan from Tipperary.
Francie becomes the 17th president of the IFA and the first Laois man to be elected to the role since the late Padraig Walsh.
Though his Limerick-based opponent Martin Stapleton understandably won all the Munster counties, Gorman dominated Leinster and cruicially Ulster and Connacht.
And indeed his strong vote in the likes of Clare, Kerry and three branches in Cork, despite fewer votes than Stapleton, were a sign of his hugely impressive performance.
He was joined in the Castleknock Hotel by his wife Kay, son Tom, extended family members and a large contingent of Laois IFA members headed up by his campaign manager Pat Hennessy.
Gorman – a beef and sheep farmer in Ballinakill – has become the first Laois man elected to the role since the late Padraig Walsh was in 2005.
Originally from Spink, he has previously served as South Leinster and Laois chairman.
His opponent Martin Stapleton is a dairy farmer from Oola in Limerick.
Both candidates embarked on an exhausting campaign over the past couple of months – at IFA hustings, farming events and phoning IFA members and officers across the country.
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