Last week, Macra na Feírme announced it had decided to stop selling its mental health calendar and was recalling all remaining copies in response to members’ concerns about the allocation of funds raised.

However, the Irish Farmers Journal now understands that Macra’s Leitrim county executive met last week prior to the decision to recall the calendars and proposed three motions to go before Macra’s national council when it meets again in January.

The proposed motions are believed to be as follows:

1. All profits collected from sales of the calendars should be donated to St Patrick’s Mental Health Foundation.

2. If Macra chief executive Edmond Connolly misled the Macra national executive, he should be asked to resign.

3. A step-by -step review of what happened in the development of the fundraising campaign should be carried out and the findings brought back to each club.

If the motions do go for consideration before the national council, and the Irish Farmers Journal understands the motions will stand, it highlights just how difficult a time Macra senior staff have had drawing a line under this issue. Macra chief executive Edmond Connolly, speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal on Friday, admitted mistakes with the calendars.

Accepted mistakes

“I accept I have made mistakes on this,” said Connolly. “The buck stops with me and I’m extremely disappointed with how this has unfolded. Members and staff put their heart and soul into this project, but it has all been undermined. It’s been a blunder.”

Connolly and Macra president Seán Finan travelled to Leitrim on Thursday night of this week to meet Leitrim members of Macra, and its county executive, to explain the full circumstances surrounding the calendar fundraising campaign.

Leitrim’s Macra representative on the national council, Colm Stenson, chaired the meeting, with Macra’s northwest vice president Caroline O’Dowd also present. Connolly said that the meeting led to a very “frank discussion” between himself and members but, ultimately, he saw it as a “very good” meeting.

Mental health

Connolly says he fully explained the processes and circumstances around the calendar and where the confusion of funding allocation arose between Macra and St Patrick’s. At the meeting, the Irish Farmers Journal understands a strong letter was read aloud to Connolly by a Macra member to underline how raw the issue remains with Leitrim members and voice their dissatisfaction with the chief executive. Leitrim has the highest suicide rate in Ireland and mental health is a major issue within the county.

While the Leitrim county executive of Macra has the option to withdraw the motion against Connolly, the Irish Farmers Journal understands it will most definitely be going forward to when the Macra national council meets in January.

The feeling within the Leitrim branches of Macra is that the remaining calendars should be sold and that all the proceeds should be donated to St Patrick’s and its Walk in My Shoes mental health campaign. Until the Macra national council can meet in January to debate the motions put forward by the Leitrim executive, the future of Edmond Connolly as chief executive will hang in the air.

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