IFA lays out its election rules

A NINE-POINT code of conduct for the election of the next president and other national officers of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has been drawn up.

It sets out how candidates for the positions of president, deputy president and vice president should campaign between now and December.

John Dillon’s second two-year term of office as president concludes next January, but already the campaign to elect his successor is effectively underway.

Three leading members of the 85,000-member Association, currently celebrating its golden jubilee, are the likely contenders at this stage.

They are Ruaidhrí Deasy, deputy president, Raymond O’Malley, vice president and Padraig Walshe, honorary treasurer.

An intensive campaign is expected and a code of conduct for the presidential and other elections will be presented for ratification to the IFA national council at a meeting in Dublin today.

The code gives guidelines on the use of the media and the issuing of statements. It proposes that public relations companies shall only be used in an appropriate manner. Media advertising in the press and on radio and television is to be prohibited.

Any derogatory statements about the IFA or its current policies, which have been agreed by the national council or its agents, are prohibited under the code, which also stipulates that any derogatory references about other candidates shall also be avoided.

The IFA’s work programme and effectiveness must not be disrupted during the election campaign period, according to the code, which was approved by its national rules committee earlier this month.

It also insists that candidates and their supporters shall not do or say anything which would cause dissension or undermine the effectiveness of the IFA during the election.

A total of 946 affiliated IFA branches are eligible to vote. For the first time, a weighted branch voting system including proportional representation will operate.

This new system was introduced as part of an IFA organisational review that was approved by its national council in March.

Nominations will close on October 28 and branch voting will take place from December 1 to December 16. The national count will be held on December 20.