'Maximising returns' to farmers key priority for new Tirlán chair
The newly elected chair of Tirlán today (Friday, May 8) said his key priority in the role will be "maximising returns" to farmers.
Tirlán today confirmed that Gerard O’Brien will be the co-op's next chair.
The dairy farmer from Camphire, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, first joined the board of the co-op in June 2018 and served as vice-chair from May 2024 to May 2025.
But, according to O'Brien he first got involved with his co-op's representative structure 24 years ago.
"A retirement in the area created a vacancy and I was approached to join the West Waterford regional committee based in Dungarvan.
“My main aim at all times has been to represent the active farmers in the West Waterford area and also the broader shareholder community in the region
“It has been very enjoyable - I have met lots of interesting people along the journey and always got on very well with them," he added.
The dairy farmer from Camphire, Cappoquin, Co Waterford succeeds John Murphy who has been the chair of Tirlán since October 2020.
According to O'Brien he now wants "to help Tirlán move forward and to continue the good work of my predecessors".
He said: "I think there is a real opportunity to continue the good work that the board has done.
“The highlight for me was being part of the board that took back 100% ownership of the Irish business.”
“We have built our Kilkenny Cheese business and we are now progressing a very significant investment in whey processing capability at Ballyragget. In terms of the future, I think sustainability is very important and we will continue to focus on moving more product into value added areas".
Tirlán
Larry Hannon, a dairy farmer from Ballytore, Co, Kildare and Dan Lynch, a dairy farmer from Watergrasshill in Co Cork, have also been appointed as vice-chairs of Tirlán.
Separately the co-op today confirmed the appointment of six new members to the Tirlán board.
The six new directors who were elected by their respective regions include:
Jonathan Tighe, East Waterford region;
Gerard Brady, Northern region;
Denis Fagan, Northern region;
Jim Mulhall, North Kilkenny region;
David O’Dwyer, South Wexford region;
Alan Stephenson, Donaghmore / Monasterevin region.
