A report presented to the synod said it was vital that the EU's agriculture proposals in Agenda 2000 "should give a clear mandate that a significant part of our rural population be given a reasonable opportunity to farm the land that they love and get a reasonable reward from it."
The report, from the Role of the Church Committee working group on Europe, said such was the decline of interest in farming among young people in Ireland that one agricultural college now had only 80 students, with 50 vacancies.
Agriculture, it said, "is the heartland of the Church of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland." Such was the decline of incomes in the beef sector that dry-stock incomes averaged £5,500 a year now, while the average industrial wage stood at £14,500.
In a debate on the report, which was adopted by the synod, Mr Sam Harper, a former IFA vice-president, said the number of farms here had almost halved since this country entered the EU and that under proposals contained in Agenda 2000 a further quarter would disappear. It would be devastating for rural Ireland, he said.
Mr Tom Cook, of Cashel diocese, a chairman of the ICMSA dairy committee, spoke of the fog of confusion and pessimism in Irish farming today. He said it made him very angry that EU officials and politicians could give themselves such wage increases while telling farmers they should be satisfied with world prices.
Mr Godfrey Birthistle, of Ferns diocese, said the Agenda 2000 proposals would mean a 50 per cent drop in income for some farmers. He spoke of the current demoralisation among farmers, "who have the highest suicide rate of any group", and with a lot of bachelors. "What girl would want to be tied to someone working seven days a week and earning a pittance?"