The Irish Farmers' Association is to mount a State-wide motorised protest in the new year when farmers will drive their heavy machinery from various parts of the country to a mass rally in Dublin.
The president of the organisation, Mr John Dillon, announced the protest would take place when he led members of his national executive to the Dáil yesterday to protest at the Government's handling of farming.
Mr Dillon said in early January, probably 6th, cavalcades of machinery will leave selected centres in the country and converge later in the week on Dublin for a mass rally. "We don't want to disrupt the country or put members of the public out, and this will be a lawful protest and our only target is the Government," he said.
Put to him that heavy machinery coming on to the major road networks was bound to cause disruption, Mr Dillon said farmers were entitled to drive on the roads.He said they were particularly angry at their income being down by 13 per cent this year. "We have to make some sort of protest before we disappear altogether. We are being driven out of business.
"The Government is ignoring us and we have to do something to highlight the serious problems we are experiencing," he said.
Mr Dillon said he had led members of the IFA's national council to the Dáil to protest over the doubling of animal health disease levies which would now cost the farming community €20 million a year. "We suspended the emergency council meeting to monitor the Dáil debate which will double a charge on a sector of the community which has had a disastrous year," he said.
"The council passed a unanimous resolution condemning the total failure of the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, to defend farmers' incomes in the 2003 Book of Estimates," he said.
"Mr Walsh's bland acceptance of an 8.5 per cent cut in farm income this year, before the impact of inflation was a deplorable display. Farmers are rapidly losing confidence in the Minister's commitment to his portfolio."
Mr Dillon said the Minister's "total indifference towards the mounting problems in Irish agriculture is alienating them and driving them to stand up and fight for their families' incomes".
|Mr Walsh was not the only target of yesterday's council meeting. The former IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, Minister of State at the Department of Finance, also come in for severe criticism. He was accused of forgetting his roots and failing to help convince Government of the seriousness of the problems facing farmers.