New IFA president, Joe Healy, pledges openness

New president Joe Healy has pledged greater transparency in the IFA, after a low election turnout pointed to the challenges ahead for IFA’s 15th president.

Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney led the welcomes for the 49-year-old, who scooped 50% of the 28,093 votes cast.

However, that was only a 37% turnout of the 75,501 members eligible to vote, which indicates the depth of ill-feeling left by revelations, last November, of IFA’s internal workings, including the large pay and pension entitlements of former general secretary Pat Smith.