WITH the postal deadline getting closer for voting in the IFA elections, Galway’s deputy presidential candidate, Pat Murphy, has appealed to members who haven’t voted yet to locate their ballot papers and send them off.

“I suppose I am asking IFA members across Galway to wear their county colours and vote for me. If I can get a big turnout across my home county, it will be a great start for me when the votes are being totted up,” Pat Murphy told the Farming Tribune this week.

According to the Galway IFA office, there are in the region of 5,500 association members spread across the county’s 74 branches – the branch AGMs concluded on Monday night when Cappataggle and Cortoon held their meetings.

“Galway is a huge county in terms of IFA membership and if I can get a big response on home turf, it could make all the difference to me when the last votes are being counted up,” Pat Murphy told the Farming Tribune.

Galway-Mayo IFA Regional Executive, Roy O’Brien, asked every member across the region to ensure that they voted in this year’s election.

“It is a very democratic organisation in that every member of every branch has a vote that counts. If members have mislaid their ballot papers, then they can contract the IFA office in Athenry, and we can supply them with replacements,” said Roy O’Brien.

Pictured: Pat Murphy: ‘Wear the county colours’.