Industry pays tribute to Irish aquaculture champion
TRIBUTES have been paid to Irish aquaculture champion Richie Flynn who died in hospital last month. Flynn, who was 49, was a stalwart of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), where he worked for 27 years, after joining in 1991.He started off in the IFA press office and five years later he moved into the agriculture section, where he represented the country’s fish farmers for 22 years. Flynn was the first president of the EU Aquaculture Advisory Council, established in 2016; he also served as a board member of the Marine Institute, and chaired the EU Advisory Committee on aquaculture from 2001 to 2011. And from 2012 to 2016, he was president of the European Shellfish Federation. Jan Feenstra, who worked closely with Flynn as chairman of the Irish Salmon Growers’ Association, said he would always remember him for his loyalty and his fearless work in promoting fish farming. IFA president Joe Healy spoke of his shock at hearing of Flynn’s death: ‘Richie was a well respected colleague and somebody who was utterly dedicated to his work in IFA. His commitment to farmers for his entire working life was steadfast. On behalf of everybody in IFA, I want to offer our condolences to his family, in particular his wife, Trish, and their two children, Liam and Róisín, his mother, Helen, and his sister, Sinéad.’ The IFA’s national office and the Roscommon regional office were closed for a day to honour their colleague.