Person: Eddie Downey

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.

Thu, 21 Apr, 2016

New IFA President Joe Healy: We need to work from the ground up

Noel Baker talks to farmer Joe Healy, new president of the IFA, on the problems facing the organisation in the wake of the debate over the salary paid to its former general secretary

Thu, 21 Apr, 2016

IFA elects Joe Healy as new President

Joe Healy has been elected as President of the IFA on the first count.

Tue, 19 Apr, 2016

Galway farmer looks favourite to succeed Eddie Downey as new IFA president

Galway dairy farmer Joe Healy looks set to become the next president of Irish Farmer’s Association.

Tue, 19 Apr, 2016

Stephen Cadogan: IFA figures challenging but could have been worse

The number of fully paid-up members eligible to vote in the upcoming IFA elections stands at 75,501, said IFA National Chairman Jer Bergin last week.

Thu, 31 Mar, 2016

Next Government must prioritise farm incomes, say farmers voting for new IFA president

The Irish Farmers Association is calling on the next Government to prioritise farm incomes.

Tue, 29 Mar, 2016

Interim IFA president fails in nomination bid

Three people are officially in the running to becoming the new president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), but the previous interim incumbent is not among them.

Thu, 07 Jan, 2016

IFA to have new president by end of April

The Irish Farmers Association has revealed that elections for its new President will take place at the end of April.

Wed, 06 Jan, 2016

€2k a week for Law Society of Ireland president

The director general of the Law Society of Ireland has outlined why the society’s president receives payments of more than €2,000 per week from the society for the part-time role.

Wed, 30 Dec, 2015

Rural crime: Communities band together to defeat scourge of burglary

Colin Connolly, the IFA’s recently appointed rural crime-prevention executive is running the Theft Stop programme and is also helping the association in the areas of policy and development, particularly when it comes to issues touching on justice, equality and rural affairs.

Sun, 27 Dec, 2015

IFA puts chairman in place until elections

The Irish Farmers’ Association has put a national chairman in place until elections are held for a new president.

Thu, 17 Dec, 2015

Con Lucey reveals IFA's runaway remuneration and faulty structures

Wages for the IFA General Secretary and President should be set by the Deputy President, National Treasurer, a Regional Chairman, and an external expert with specialist knowledge of pay levels, said the Association’s former chief economist, Con Lucey this week, in his much anticipated report on the organisation’ remuneration and governance.

Thu, 17 Dec, 2015

Pat Smith earned €3.4m over 7 years, but IFA chiefs’ pay ‘in line’ with civil service

Wed, 16 Dec, 2015

IFA board criticism grows

Pressure is growing on senior members of the Irish Farmers Association executive board to step down after more local branches joined the call for resignations in the aftermath of the payments’ controversy within the organisation.

Fri, 04 Dec, 2015

O’Leary faces fight to stay on as head of IFA

Acting president Tim O’Leary faces a fight to stay in the position after one of the county executives calling for him and the entire IFA board to go claimed momentum for such a move was building.

Thu, 03 Dec, 2015

Eddie Downey’s COPA vice-president job up for grabs

Former IFA President Eddie Downey remains in place as a vice-president of the COPA grouping for EU farmers’ organisations, with the Brussels-based grouping saying yesterday it awaited official communication from IFA on Mr Downey’s resignation, before assessing how to proceed.

Thu, 03 Dec, 2015

IFA stays silent on Eddie Downey comments

The IFA was last night remaining tight-lipped after its former president claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” and his position “misrepresented” in the striking of a controversial severance deal with the organisation’s former general secretary, Pat Smith.

Wed, 02 Dec, 2015

Downey asleep at the wheel - IFA pay scandal

Eddie Downey has said he does not regret his decision last week to resign as president of the Irish Farmers’ Association.

Wed, 02 Dec, 2015

VIDEO: Ex-IFA boss Eddie Downey: I’ve been thrown under the bus

Speaking for the first time since he resigned as president of the IFA, Eddie Downey has said he only became aware of the full remuneration package that general secretary Pat Smith was receiving on November 19 and he acted on that information within hours.

Tue, 01 Dec, 2015

Your Tuesday evening catch-up

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Tue, 01 Dec, 2015

Your Tuesday lunchtime catch-up

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime

Tue, 01 Dec, 2015

Public hasn’t an automatic right to know pay levels due to EU data protection law

The IFA’s former general secretary Pat Smith and president Eddie Downey find themselves as household names for all the wrong reasons.

Mon, 30 Nov, 2015

Ex-IFA president John Donnelly urges resignations of executive board members

A former president of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has urged the organisation’s entire executive board to resign immediately.

Mon, 30 Nov, 2015

IFA to pick president as fallout from payments controversy continues

After the most tumultuous week in its history, the Irish Farmers’ Association will next week begin the process of picking a new president, as the fallout from the controversy over payments continues.

Sat, 28 Nov, 2015

VIDEO: The IFA needs ‘a new clean board to start from scratch’ say farmers at Skibbereen Mart

“Pure blaggarding,” said one man. “It’s a bit of a joke,” offered another. And for once, they weren’t talking about the price of cattle.

Sat, 28 Nov, 2015

IFA split would not be in anyone’s interest

WITH the executive-pay crisis threatening to rip the Irish Farmers’ Association asunder, it would not be surprising if further revelations come to light concerning the pay, pensions and perks of those at the top of Ireland’s most powerful lobby group. Moreover, with some irate farmers already cancelling their membership, the danger that it could be riven by the proverbial ‘split’, a cancer which has destroyed many an Irish organisation in the past, cannot be dismissed.

Sat, 28 Nov, 2015

IFA to withhold Pat Smith’s ‘void’ €2m severance deal

The IFA is to withhold the €2m severance package agreed between its former president and its now- departed secretary general on the basis that it is legally void.

Fri, 27 Nov, 2015

We pay a high price for less than scrupulous attitude to money

THE report into the banking inquiry and the salary of the former general secretary of the IFA do not seem to be inextricably linked, writes Alison O’Connor.

Fri, 27 Nov, 2015

IFA fallout: Hard to find any positives in the bad publicity

The old saying goes, “there is no such thing as bad publicity” but the past week’s revelations on pay and remuneration of the former chief executive and general secretary of the IFA, Pat Smith, have undoubtedly damaged the organisation.

Fri, 27 Nov, 2015

IFA fallout: Candidates prepare to throw hats in the ring to be the next IFA president

An election to pick the next president of the IFA is already under way even though the only person to state his candidacy as of yesterday afternoon is the subject of a motion seeking his removal.

Fri, 27 Nov, 2015

IFA fallout: All eyes look to Con Lucey for report on corporate structures and governance

As the IFA enters the unchartered waters of vacancies in its presidential and secretary general roles, any member seeking solace might look at the man charged with ensuring that something similar does not happen again.

Fri, 27 Nov, 2015

Your Thursday evening catch-up

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

Your Thursday lunchtime catch-up

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

Your Thursday morning catch-up

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

Eddie Downey resigns as IFA face multi-million euro legal pay battle

Irish Farmers Association president Eddie Downey has been forced to resign after it emerged that the growing financial scandal engulfing the powerful lobby group is now set for a multi-million euro legal battle.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

IFA payments scandal is a world away from farming realities

As the IFA’s emergency meeting took a badly needed break to recharge already frayed emotions, a copy of the Irish Farmers Journal left crumpled in the crowded foyer quietly spoke volumes, writes Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

IFA in legal bid to claw back €4.7m severance package to Pat Smith

IFA president Eddie Downey resigned last night after his organisation decided to take legal action to claw back a €4.7m severance package to former secretary general Pat Smith he only agreed last week.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

IFA overhaul needed to avoid an exodus of its membership over salaries

The fallout from the recent revelations on pay arrangements within the IFA will not be limited to the resignation of Pat Smith as general secretary from the IFA.

Thu, 26 Nov, 2015

Your Wednesday evening catch-up

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Wed, 25 Nov, 2015

IFA salaries mess is akin to cattle trampling over the silage pit

Plenty of analogies present themselves when discussing the current mess at the IFA, but maybe an appropriate one is the farmer returning home from a Sunday drive and being confronted with the sight of his cattle trampling all over the silage pit, writes Noel Baker.

Wed, 25 Nov, 2015

IFA salaries: Call for all union bosses to disclose salaries