The result of the battle between Tom Parlon and Michael Slattery for the IFA leadership will be known on Tuesday. Each branch meets to conduct a secret ballot, so there is much debate as votes are cast. So excited did one branch in Galway become, however, that members decided on a count immediately. Slattery had a narrow victory, so Parlon's men challenged on the grounds that all the papers should have gone to Dublin for the general count on Tuesday. It is now possible that all 40-or-so votes in question will be declared invalid. The returning officer will decide.
The campaign is the longest in the country, and both men have been chasing the 85,000 IFA members full-time since September. For a job without a salary that entails endless arguing in Brussels, dealing with mad cows and angry foreigners, constant lobbying of all and sundry and serious whingeing on the airwaves, that certainly shows enthusiasm. The IFA puts a professional manager into the winner's farm for the four-year term so that the president can dedicate himself fully to a job which carries prestige and profile and is often a gateway to national politics.