The man who will lead the Irish Farmers' Association for the next four years, Pádraig Walshe, has been involved in farming politics all of his adult life and is the second former president of Macra na Feirme to hold the post.
Mr Walshe (47), who runs a dairy and beef farm near Durrow, Co Laois, can claim a 25-year record of active service in the cause of farming. He is the first Laois man to hold the position.
Married to Ella, he has four children, Julianne (21), Catherine (20), Elma (18) and Pat (15). His mother, Sheila, who is in her 80s, is also an active member of the family.
Mr Walshe has a keen interest in sport and is a strong supporter of the Laois GAA football and hurling teams. He has won junior football medals for his parish club, for which he also played hurling.
He is also a supporter of the Irish soccer team, being a regular attender at Lansdowne Road and frequent traveller to away matches. He was president of Macra na Feirme from 1987 to 1989 and afterwards quickly became active in the IFA.
He served at many levels in the IFA at county level before becoming county chairman. From there he launched his career as a national figure in the organisation.
He was one of the youngest members to be elected as chairman of the IFA's national dairy committee, a pivotal position in an organisation which traditionally favoured electing dairy farmers as its leader. He also served a term as chairman of the IFA's national Rural Development Committee and is current national treasurer of the organisation.
Four years ago he contested the presidency, running in a field of four. He came in third behind outgoing president John Dillon and behind Raymond O'Malley.
Educated in St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, he later attended Warrenstown Agricultural College before returning home to help his late father, Paddy, build up the family farm.
Widely travelled, he was a Nuffield Scholar, an agricultural bursary which allows young farmers travel and live abroad for a year to explore other systems and methods of farming. He spent his time in New Zealand.