Kilkennyman John Bryan (51) has tonight been elected the 13th president of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA).
A former garda, Mr Bryan had a decisive victory over his two rivals for the post, outgoing deputy IFA president, Derek Deane, and Richard Kennedy.
Mr Bryan, who will replace Padraig Walshe won all the regional contests in one of the highest turn outs in an IFA election.
He won 56 per cent of the branch votes around the country with a final tally of 1147 branch votes, beating his nearest rival by nearly two to one.
Derek Deane received 28 per cent of the vote with 568 branch votes while Richard Kennedy, the Limerick dairy farmer, came in with 16 per cent of the poll on 316 branch votes.
Elected as deputy to Mr Bryan for the next four years was Eddie Downey from Slane, Co Meath, chairman of Meath IFA and former farm business chairman, who defeated Sean O' Leary of Cork, who was the outgoing Munster vice president of IFA.
Mr Bryan, from Cappagh, Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, started farming in 1980, and with his wife Rena and their two children, Cathy and James, now farms 230 acres, 170 of which he owns and 60 of which he rents.
He has served as national livestock chairman and is current chairman of Kilkenny IFA and is best known for his work in exposing the lack of disease controls in Brazil which he visited on two occasions with an investigation team from the Irish Farmers Journal.