Sheep farmers from the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth will take to the streets of Dublin today to "tell the world that they are not rogues" and to seek a higher level of compensation for sheep slaughtered there during the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
Mr John Elmore, who is a former chairman of the Irish Farmers' Association sheep committee, accused the Department of Agriculture of blackening the name of decent people by saying they were claiming for sheep they did not possess.
"We have been betrayed, short-changed and our reputation has been damaged by the Department's sweeping accusations broadcast on May 4th, incriminating 100 of the 276 farmers as rogues involved in sheep premium fraud.
"Despite repeated requests, these allegations, which were cavalier and irresponsible, have never been substantiated or verified," said Mr Elmore, who will lead the protest group.
Mr Elmore said the Department had failed to honour commitments made during the culling that the compensation issue raised at the beginning of the operation would be resolved satisfactorily.
Apart from the loss of good name and reputation, he said, farmers in the area were very upset that £85,000 had been clawed back by the Department from a review fund of £500,000, in what he described as a miserable attempt to deprive the farmers of a fair settlement.
"Every other service provider and agency involved in this unprecedented disease eradication programme have all received the full shilling but we farmers, who were the real victims and whose livelihoods have been jeopardised in the national interest, are the only people being penalised by the Department's Scrooge mentality," he said.
"We are asking for fair play in the form of adequate and comprehensive compensation, not just for the loss of our flocks but for the hardship and inconvenience of sourcing, purchasing and acclimatising new flocks in order that we may revert to full viability as creative production entities.
"We are coming to Dublin to show that the vast majority of farmers in the area are decent, law-abiding people and not rogues, as implied by the Department of Agriculture."
The Agri-Aware organisation is to run a television campaign starting tomorrow to say "thanks" to the Irish public for its support during the foot-and-mouth crisis.
Agri-Aware, which represents the farming and food industry, and was set up to promote awareness of the industry, has purchased space on RTE and TV3 to get its thank-you message across.
"The shadow of foot-and-mouth disease caused a level of practical patriotism throughout the country, which we can all be proud of, and the efforts and sacrifice of non-farming people have been an inspiration to us all," said Mr John McCullen, chairman of Agri-Aware.
He said the campaign was an important acknowledgement of the "magnificent" role played by the public in the fight against foot-and-mouth.