THE first phase in a long process of deliberation and debate on the proposed Avonmore Waterford marriage began for farmers last night with meetings of advisory committees in several parts of the county.

At the weekly mart in Dungarvan, however, some farmers made it plain that they would regard any merger as a shotgun wedding, while many others were anxious that there should be a long courtship which could be carefully observed.

Even those who were broadly in favour of mergers were anxious that their co op should not jump into bed too readily with the Kilkenny stranger, especially when the dowry appears to have many drawbacks.

Those farmers - and they are many - who do not dismiss outright the idea of a deal will weigh up its terms as keenly as they assessed the animals in the sales ring yesterday and the shifting trends of prices to the drone of the auctioneer's bidding chant.

"At the end of this week farmers will be in a better position to know what the situation is," said Mr Jim Coughlan, county chairman of Waterford IFA. "All we can do in our organisation is raise the concerns out there the ultimate decision is for the co op shareholders."

But the issues being raised "out there" are substantial. Farmers want to know much more about the nature of the proposed conglomerate, Mr Coughlan stressed. "What are the structures to be? Where is the headquarters going to be? What happens to the factory structure here in Dungarvan, the employment it gives?"

He, like many of his members, had heard the novel suggestion by Mr Michael Murphy, the IFA's dairy committee county chairman, earlier yesterday morning on the local radio station, WLRFM.

Mr Murphy had remarked that, in general terms, dairy farmers would see rationalisation as desirable and of benefit to them. But it would have to be "proper rationalisation" facilitating investment in new products and a new plant.

"In the past their experience of expansion was not that successful in returning a proper price to the farmer," he said.

"I think they would be shy of it they would like to have control of the company. So I'd say it is very early days yet in this."

Waterford farmers, he suggested, might like to see their neighbour, Dairygold Co op, intervene in the situation. "I'm on the west of the Blackwater and a lot of people here would be looking towards Dairygold as an option," he said. "Whether Dairygold would like to come in on that option, I don't know. They will not stay on the ditch on this one, anyway.

Mr Coughlan agreed that a section of the local farming community would prefer to see their fortunes joined with Dairygold rather than the Kilkenny giant, Avonmore. For one thing, it remains a "pure" co op in the original tradition of the term.

"An awful lot of people would think that Dairygold have a good milk price structure, and they have a good relationship with their farmers," admitted Mr Coughlan.

An elderly dairy farmer from the mid county, who did not wish to be named, conceded that he did not see anything wrong with the proposed Avonmore Waterford merger per se, "if it would give us a better senior management". But he acknowledged that that could not be guaranteed.

"I'd be sceptical about the 3p extra a gallon offer," the same man remarked. "But what can we do at the end of the day only take the advice we're given by the coop board? I'm nearly 50 years farming, and I regard last year as one of the worst years we've had." Farmers were tied now by their dependence on milk quotas. "When I was a young fellow you could branch out, have an extra cow or something. Now you're limited by quotas."

For straight talking there was no one to beat Mr Harry Gray, from the south Waterford coast near Bunmahon. "I suppose we saw that this was in the wind for a while, but it came as a shock when we heard it," he said. "It came as more of a shock when we heard what Avonmore was wanting to do with us - the kind of takeover they were wanting.

"I'd be, for one, that no way would I want my co op to go. We were in trouble before in different ways and we got out of it, so I think we could get out of it now.

"Anyone I have spoken to in no way wants it. To be honest about it, we're being ripped off."

Mr Gray, who is in suckling beef, cheese and horses rather than milk, pointed out that although he deals extensively with the co op, nothing has been offered in the proposed deal to benefit farmers like him - "and there are dozens like me".

He, too, was sceptical about the proposed 3p milk bonus: "With a stroke of the pen that could disappear too. And he could not see how Waterford could hand over two to one majority control to another organisation. "In my view, if we were going in anywhere the least it should be would be on a 50/50 basis. Other than that I wouldn't have anything to do with any of them.

There were many, however, like Mr Maurice Harney, of Graigerush, Kilmacthomas who admitted that he was not yet very well informed about the proposal, and "I'd have an open mind on it until I hear the details".

Even he, however, was a bit surprised at the way things have gone". The sudden manner in which the deal has been sprung on farmers concerned him. "I'd like to hear both sides," said Mr Harney.

There were two generations of farmers obvious at Dungarvan mart, and there are indications that the younger ones may take a different view to their elders when the crunch comes. The new generation of farmers don't wear caps, but rather check shirts and slimline jeans. They think commercially, and pull their trailers with sleek four wheel drive jeeps - they could as easily fit in in Texas as in Timoleague.

Meanwhile, the hundreds of workers in Waterford Foods remain excluded from the developing equation, as ATGWU district official, Mr Tony Mansfield, again pointed out yesterday.

He is seeking a meeting with the co op board to represent the views of his members and ask for the plans of the Avonmore and Waterford managements in regard to employment to be put openly on the table.

Mr Mansfield wants to ensure that farmers are aware of the other permutations, such as the fate of jobs, which will inevitably be involved in a merger. "Our driver members operating the bulk milk and bulk feed fleets from Dungarvan know every single farmer," he pointed out. "Naturally our members are very worried. What we're trying to do is bring the employees into the equation and bring the background of the industry into the equation: it's a Waterford based industry and we're very proud of it.

"It's a locally based indigenous industry, embracing the farming community, who are a very important part of it, the management and the employees. And from the outset there has always been excellent community relations in Dungarvan here and spreading out across the county and into other counties."

Mr Mansfield added that the union would be insisting on adherence to existing industrial agreements. "There are agreements in place on every aspect of the operations, and nothing should change without agreement."

"If there is a merger, obviously the balance of power will shift - but the question is, to where?"