Office Bearers

Wesley grew up and still lives on a small livestock farm in Markethill, Co Armagh and he graduated from Edinburgh University with a Degree in Agriculture in 1989. He started his career with the UFU in 1991, firstly as Policy Officer for Pigs, Poultry and Fish Farming before moving across to cover Dairying and heading up the Union’s Policy Team in 1995 and more recently the Union’s Communications Team.

During his time with the UFU he has represented the Union at local, UK and EU levels and has been centrally involved in the UFU’s activity on virtually all of the major issues affecting Northern Ireland’s farmers over the past twenty years including: several CAP reforms; BSE, Foot and Mouth Disease, and Dioxin crises; £3 million Snow Hardship and £1.3 million Fodder Transport Schemes; a major ongoing Farm Safety Initiative; deregulation of the NI Milk Marketing Board; establishment of AgriSearch and Animal Health and Welfare NI; EU Nitrates Directive implementation; several farm capital investment and agri-environment schemes; secured £6 million of agri-monetary compensation for LFA farmers; major review of agri food related bureaucracy; introduction of sheep electronic identification; development of NI Executive’s Rural White Paper; introduction of £3 million Young Farmers’ Scheme; National Park opposition; Fermanagh flooding; Open Farm Weekend; retailer protests and creation of UK’s Groceries Code Adjudicator; ‘Horsemeat Scandal’; NI Agri-food Strategy Board input; introduction of Bovine TB Badger TVR trials; and introduction of a mobile ‘farmer health check’ service.

William Irvine, UFU president: William is a dairy farmer from Mountnorris, Co Armagh, farming in partnership with his wife Ruth and son David. He has held numerous roles within the UFU including dairy committee chair, representing NI dairy farmers on the COPA Milk Working Group and the UK on the Milk Civil Dialogue Group. William represented Co. Armagh on the UFU management board prior to being elected deputy president in July 2020 and president in May 2024.

John from County Derry/Londonderry, has suckler beef, an egg enterprise, wind turbine and biogas plant. His partner is Lisa and they have three children. John’s UFU experience includes former group chair of North East Londonderry. John has been a member of the poultry, rural enterprise, animal health and environment committees. He has served on the board and was previously chair of poultry and environment.

Glenn is from Donaghmore in Co. Tyrone. He has three children, and farms alongside his two sons and wife Heather. They run a modern birth-to-bacon sow unit, in addition to suckler cows and a pedigree and commercial sheep flock. For four years, Glenn chaired the pork and bacon committee and represented the UFU on the Red Tractor pig board and sat on the Board of Pig Regen, which conducts research with AFBI. He served on the shadow board of the NI sustainability farming programme, the animal health committee and the pork and bacon forum.