IFA Statement on the Passing of Richie Flynn

Last Friday, IFA was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden passing of our friend & colleague Richie Flynn.

 

Richie worked in IFA for 27 years, joining in 1991 when he took up a role in our Press Office. In 1996, he moved to our aquaculture section, where he represented fish farmers around the coast for the last 22 years.

It began with salmon farming and the Irish Shellfish Association was added to IFA membership in the 1990s.

Richie was the first President of the EU Aquaculture Advisory Council, which was established in 2016.

He was a former board member of the Marine Institute; he chaired the EU Advisory Committee on aquaculture from 2001 to 2011 and he was President of the European Shellfish Federation from 2012 to 2016.

 

Jan Feenstra, who worked closely with Richie 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 said everybody was very shocked at the news that Richie had passed away early on Friday morning. “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 & their two children Liam and Róisín, his mother Helen and his sister Sinéad.”

 

As a mark of respect, IFA’s National Office in the Irish Farm Centre and the Roscommon regional office that services Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon & Longford will be closed on Wednesday.