THE 16,000-STRONG Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association has re-elected Jackie Cahill as president at the organisation’s agm in Limerick.
By a margin of 54 votes to 45, he beat off the challenge of former president Pat O’Rourke when the 99-member national council met yesterday in the Carlton Castletroy Hotel.
The victory over his challenger will now give Mr Cahill (47), from Killinan, Thurles, Co Tipperary, a further two years at the helm of the organisation, which caters for dairy farmers.
Mr Cahill, who milks 80 cows and rears 220 other stock on his 220-acre farm, has already led the organisation for four years.
The surprise challenge to the extension of his presidency caused deep divisions in the organisation and reopened the long-running rivalry between the two men.
Mr Cahill’s supporters claimed last night that his victory, despite the fact there were only nine votes between the two men, was decisive.
Mr Cahill, a former accountancy student who took over the family farm when his father became ill, has been a constant critic of the Government and European Commission’s dairy policy.
He has been a bitter opponent of increasing the amount of milk farmers are allowed to produce under the current milk quota system, at a time when milk prices are very poor.
He has argued the extra production allowed by the EU has put surplus production on the market and this has led to the price collapse.
Mr Cahill has also repeatedly called on farm organisations to move away from what he terms “protest for protest’s sake” and into the area of independent analysis and research, where rational counter-arguments can be put forward.
A keen supporter of Irish horseracing, Mr Cahill is also a greyhound breeder and has a reputation as a very serious bridge player.
The position of deputy president vacated by Killarney farmer John O’Leary was filled by Castlebar’s John Comer.
He defeated Martin McMahon, a Clare farmer who chairs the ICMSA’s beef and cattle committee, by a margin of three on a vote of 51 to 48.
The re-election of Mr Cahill comes four days ahead of the counting of votes in the Irish Farmers’ Association presidential election.
Three candidates, John Bryan, Derek Deane and Richard Kennedy, are seeking the post.