Alice Doyle said she has no intention of running for the top job in next year's Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) elections at the minute.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal's Year of the Woman Farmer podcast, she said: "I’m not sure that I would have the energy nor the will to give it another four years at this level and even higher.”

She said that the “presidency is all consuming and very demanding” and isn’t sure that she wants to do that, but that if she was 10 years younger, she would “seriously” consider it.

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“By the time I will have finished this, I will have given it four years. I hope I will have given it everything I can give it at that stage. It is all-consuming and there is no point in pretending otherwise."

All or nothing

“Some people would be very well able to do this role and put less time and less energy into it. I just find it - me individually, it’s all or nothing."

She said that she is lucky enough that she has the time to give to it and is happy to give the time to it.

“I have no doubt that there are plenty of very good candidates out there who are very willing to run for the role and the organisation will be in good hands no matter who gets it, because we have plenty of good people out there.

“Everyone says you should never say never, but at the minute I am certainly saying no.”