PRESIDENT of ICMSA, Pat McCormack, has led tributes to the late Con Scully for his ‘ceaseless work’ for family dairy farms.
He said he was always struck by the attitude of diplomacy and determination that was exerted by the Ardfield man who was at the helm of the ICMSA from 1986-87 and who previously won The Southern Star’s West Cork Farming Hall of Fame award.
Mr Scully died this week at the Mater Private Hospital in Cork.
‘He was incredibly insightful about the real nature of what had to be addressed and how to go about that. His work at the Milk Quota Appeals Tribunal was definitive and in many cases was the difference between individual farmers being able to keep going – it was that important. If he was arguing your case then you had the best there was, in your corner,’ he said.
Frank Allen, another ex-president of ICMSA who had worked closely with the Clonakilty man, said that Mr Scully’s contributions were always marked by an easy charm and real solidarity for fellow farm families facing problems.
‘He was typical of those West Cork farmers, in that while he was very engaging and easy-going, he was also absolutely committed and unswerving about doing what he thought was right – not that which was necessarily popular. In 1986, there was a fodder crisis in the west after two desperately wet summers and Con Scully launched the Farm Solidarity Fund that raised the money to get fodder from the east to the hard-pressed farms in the west. He had that sense of “meitheal” – the solidarity with other farmers and the duty to help. He served on the European Economic and Social Council for 12 years and he brought the exact same qualities to that as he brought to everything he did.’
On behalf of West Cork ICMSA, Eileen Calnan said that Mr Scully’s legacy was both simple and incredibly important. ‘He was a West Cork man through-and-through; very proud of our farms, the technical excellence and ambition of our farmers and absolutely versed in the set-up and strengths of the network of local co-ops. He was the personification of everything that is good and right about Cork farmers and our world-renowned local dairy sector. There’s another champion gone, and we won’t see his likes again.’
