Comer re-elected to ICMSA hot seat

The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, John Comer, was re-elected for a further three-year term in Limerick yesterday.

He defeated Stephen Shorten, from Enniskeane, Co Cork, a former vice-president of the National Dairy Council and a board member of Bandon Co-op, by 73 votes to 22.

Mr Shorten campaigned on the need to secure the future of small family-run dairy farms, especially given the pressure that is about to come on milk prices in 2015.

Pledging to focus on milk prices, Mr Comer, from Castlebar, Co Mayo, said a year of massive challenges loomed for dairy farmers —the “foundation stone” for the State’s most critical and valuable indigenous economic sector.

He called for a proactive approach on the part of the Government and European Unon to combat what he termed the kind of wild price volatility experienced over the last six months

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