Putting the pieces back together again . . . as Galway President starts to rebuild the IFA from the bottom up

Well into his first year of office as President of the IFA, JOE HEALY talks to FRANCIS FARRAGHER about a new life, new challenges and a new beginning for the Association.

JOE Healy well remembers a December’s night, not long before the Christmas of 2015, as he made his way to a Galway IFA meeting in the Raheen Woods Hotel in Athenry.

It had been a turbulent few months for the IFA, following the resignation of the Chief Executive Pat Smyth, and a grassroots revolt over what many ordinary members felt was a golden circle at the top of the organisation.

A ‘new name’ had been mentioned in Galway IFA circles as a possible candidate for the presidency – the former Connacht Vice-President, Michael Silke, a man who would command a lot of respect from the farming community.

“I went to the meeting that night in Athenry fully expecting to be supporting the candidacy of Michael Silke for the next president of the association.

“However word came through that Michael wasn’t going forward and I thought well that’s the end of that. Then Enda Monaghan stood up and said that there was another man from the county who could stand and he was supported by Joseph O’Connell. As it turned out ‘that other man’ was to be me.

“The thought of standing for the presidency hadn’t even entered my head. I looked up at Pat Murphy (the County Chairman) and shook my head, but he told me to think about it over the Christmas, and that’s really how it all started,” Joe Healy recalled.

Think about it he did, and by the time the first week in January had arrived, the plans were being put in place for the campaign, spearheaded by County Chairman Pat Murphy and Joe’s Campaign Manager, Anne Mitchell.

“We took a very conscious decision at the start to start local, to build up a strong team in Galway, and to get the required six nominations in Connacht and Donegal.

“Of course, these were tough times for the IFA and the membership were upset at things that had happened, but I would have to say that right from the start, I got a very positive response from members and branches. I never got as much as one snide remark thrown at me,” said Joe Healy.

He was elected on the first count with 51% of the vote but there was no time for a honeymoon. After a quick return to Athenry that night to celebrate with his own supporters, it was back to Dublin the following  day and then off to a meeting in Brussels.

“It was a case of hitting the tarmac running. A lot of ground had to be made up and really it was a case of straight down to business once my own housekeeping arrangements were put in place for the management and running of the family farm,” he said.

Although Joe Healy knew what was in store for him in terms of the workload and travel, the first couple of weeks were still a bit of a shock to the system.

His base, for the want of a better word, is the Red Cow Hotel in West Dublin but it’s more of a very short resting place than anything else.

“On a typical day, it’s a return to the Red Cow sometime between midnight and 2am with a 7am start the following morning. It’s quite hectic, and there is an awful lot of travel, but I would have to say that I love every moment of it,” he said.

He remembers one particularly busy Friday, when he attended functions in the four provinces, taking in Carlow, Waterford, Monaghan and Galway, but if at all possible he tries to be back home on Friday night at the family home in Greethill for the weekend.

The former President of Macra – he held that office from 1995 to 1997 – knows full well that there will be no let-up in ‘the action’ over the coming years with his time roughly being split three ways between Head Office in Dublin, Brussels and in keeping in touch with the farmers on the ground.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.