Farmers urged to stand up and fight

THE Government has been sent a strong message that they must ‘talk to farmers’ and not ‘at them’ following last Friday’s series of rallies across the country, according to Connacht IFA Chair Pat Murphy.

He said that many farmers across the West of Ireland – and all over the country – were now very fearful of the future given the lack of clarity, negotiation and information at what was coming down the track for them over the coming years.

“I’d put it like this. On Friday in Roscommon, I met many, many ordinary farmers who mightn’t have been at a protest ever before who turned out for this one. We were delighted with the turnout at the four venues across the country,” said Pat Murphy.

He said that the three main issues that kept coming up with farmers were the eco scheme elements of the new CAP; the future of the suckler cow sector; and the lack of ‘real negotiations’ that the Government had undertaken with the farming representatives.

An estimated 400 farmers turned out for the Connacht rally outside Hyde Park in Roscommon which followed on from the first early-morning gathering in Cavan.

The third ‘afternoon rally’ took place in Portlaoise while the biggest turnout of the day was in Cork for ‘the night event’, which attracted an estimated 3,000 people.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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