EDITORIAL: Ireland and the land - an unhealthy relationship
In this week's Nationalist and Tipperary Star
“There’s another law stronger than the common law...The law of the land.”
The quote above is from The Field by John B. Keane. The sentiment of the line from the play, which was reiterated by actor Richard Harris in the film adaptation, has seen people killed, it has seen families fall out with each other, it has caused divisions and hatred for generations.
And that sentiment around land still exists to this day.
It does a funny thing to people in this country; to people all over the world. Farmland in particular, and its use, or its change of use.
Here, a farmer could well mourn an acre like he or she would mourn the loss of a son or daughter. The Bull McCabe is not a fictitious character created by a playwright.
The Bull McCabe caricature lives and breathes right across this country, in every village, in every townland. The same intransigence. The same manipulation, the same tortured sons and daughters.
Farming life is hard and some farmers make it harder.
But there is very much the old and new farmer in Ireland now as well and the question of “who gets the land” seems to be the source of many a farming conflict. It can be a hugely rewarding job - particularly in the middle of summer.
It can be a different story in the dark of winter but it’s still not without its rewards although farmers’ profits are getting harder and harder to earn.
On many Irish farms, there’s the young son or daughter - reared on the farm - who want to try new initiatives, new technology.
These young and enthusiastic people are getting trained, educated on proper farming practices, in keeping with what seems to be an unending stream of regulation.
And then on so many farms there’s the uncompromising tenet of tradition - standing in the way of every decision - fighting back the inevitable tide, and holding on to every row, every altercation, and wearing it on their face more and more as the years and outdoors weather them like some old stone.
Leaving nothing behind, only the land.