MINISTER for Agriculture Brendan Smith, who has been a target for angry farmers since cuts in the agriculture budget were announced, spent five hours at the National Ploughing Championships yesterday to confront his critics.
The Minister, whose car was attacked in west Cork by farmers some weeks ago, spent a good portion of his time walking around the crowded championship site at breakneck speed visiting tradestands accompanied at times, by up to 12 gardaí.
His arrival time at the site had been a closely-guarded secret and the media was only informed of the details by telephone at 8.30pm on Tuesday.
One of the Minister’s first ports of call was the Irish Farmers’ Association stand where he was given what was termed a “cordial” greeting by IFA president Padraig Walshe and provided with a cup of tea.
His greeting was not so warm on the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association stand where he came face to face with John Comer, of Castlebar, an officer of the organisation who told the Minister he was not doing a good job.
He lectured the Minister on the folly of increasing milk quota allocations, a policy opposed by ICMSA and said the policies being pursued by the Minister were destroying family farms in Ireland.
However, the Minister held his ground and argued the case for increasing milk quotas until the scheme was scrapped by the EU in 2015.
The argument was intense but not aggressive.
Warming to the task, the Minister then gave a press conference at NPA headquarters, where he said he defended the right of farmers to have lawful protest and to deny allegations he was not doing his job properly.
“Farmers have every right to feel aggrieved about the prices they are getting and I know they are worried but I am doing all I can to help in what are very difficult circumstances in prices, in weather terms and globally,” he said.
He announced he was making €1 million available for additional limited funding for the Early Retirement Scheme, with a view to accepting as many as possible applicants who had completed or were close to completing at the time when the scheme was suspended on October 14th, 2008.
The lack of hostility to him was about equal to the lack of recognition as he sped on his way.