Farmers vent anger at Council meeting

“A county like Leitrim needs farming; there is a local co-op out the road here in Kinlough that depends on farming. Every small rural town does depend on farming. At least every euro that a farmer gets, he's nearly putting it back into the local community and keeping things going,” Liam Gilligan, Leitrim IFA Chairman told the Leitrim Observer.

Farmers were out in force in Kinlough on Monday morning of this week looking for the support of their public representatives at the Leitrim County Council meeting which took place in the town's community centre.

Outside the centre, ahead of the meeting, tractors lined the road as up to 60 members of the farming community showed their support for the IFA's 'Enough is Enough' campaign, announced by IFA President Francis Gorman recently.

The IFA said it will continue highlighting farmers' frustration and anger with the political system over the next month by targeting County Council meetings around the country.

Mr Gilligan continued, “When you see all the farmers here on a Monday morning in a small town on the Donegal border and couldn't be any further north. Farmers are very busy at this time of year with cows calving and sheep lambing and look at the effort that's been put in. That goes to show the level of frustration.”

James Gallagher, a former Chairman of Leitrim IFA, said that he felt rural Ireland was not being represented at national or European level and that the Nature Restoration Law will have serious implications for farming.

“There has been no consultation between people on the ground in rural areas and legislators. Our MEPs are disappointed to go forward and vote on something that they don't know what the consequences of it will be. Ireland can't save the planet.

“They are looking for a 25% cut in agriculture emissions and farmers are working towards that but the same parties that have pushed for this are looking to expand Dublin Airport which would cause a 22% increase in emission,” he said.

He continued, “Agriculture is the soft target and we're being told we need more forestation and Leitrim has been the target for the last 40 years and it isn't the answer. This afforestation is affecting communities and it will be stopped if the powers that be don't take heed.”

He continued, “We are not anti rules and regulations with regards to climate change but there has to be common sense.”

In relation to farm payments, Mr Gilligan said that farmers “always got their ANC payment in September. This year it didn't happen until the end of October. The farmers already had that money committed to different things and that's where the frustration is coming from.”

“ACRES farmers went into the scheme in good faith and payments have only started to come out on Friday when they were supposed to be made in December. Farmers had to pay their planners and everything.

“If farmers get two payments this year, there could be a lot of tax implications. Farmers had to pay their planners and everything else when they went into the scheme last May.

“Farmers have a deadline date for these schemes and if they don't go into it on time, they are penalised. If they are supposed to get paid on a date, it should happen.

“It is unacceptable and that's why farmers are getting very frustrated and why we are out here today.”

He said that farmers are willing to do their part when it comes to the environment but said “the goal posts are being changed throughout and that's where the problems are. When farmers go into a scheme, they should know exactly what they're going in for and that didn't happen.”