The searing easterly wind which swept across the country yesterday did not deter the men of the Irish Farmers' Association as they moved through Cork and Limerick yesterday on the tractors heading for Dublin.
To make a point, one of the 450 tractors which ploughed through the city of Cork in about 50 minutes flat, carried the sign "I am a poor farmer".
Another, which passed IFA president, Mr John Dillon, as he took what amounted to a presidential salute on a windswept St Patrick's Bridge in the centre of Cork said: "The banks own them - we drive them."
The farmers had set off from Bandon mart yesterday morning after 11 a.m. in order not to cause disruption and while there were delays of around twenty minutes, it could have been much worse.
The people of Cork reacted well to the disruption of their city and while they did not applaud them, one sensed that the capital of the Rebel County, was quite pleased to host such a spectacle.
There was a growing confidence too on the tractor protest as the success of the venture continues to grow with 1,500 vehicles out yesterday.
The tractors from Bantry are being led by the contingent from Castletownbere.
Mr Dennis O'Regan from Castletownbere, will be driving all the way to Dublin because he believes that this is the last chance for farming in the country.
"I am barely surviving and none of my kids want to take over the farm. We have to do something," he said.
Today, when they leave Fermoy where the tractors stayed overnight, the group hope to be joined by the former government minister, Mr Ned O'Keeffe, who has indicated he will be climbing aboard a tractor to show his support for the farmers who are protesting over low income levels.
The Bantry contingent will be abandoned today by Mr Dillon, who will go to Nenagh to join the 250 strong tractors, which include two of his own vehicles, for a portion of the journey.
The following day, as some of the six tractor columns join forces on the main routes, he will travel to Co Monaghan to meet the Lifford contingent, which travelled through Northern Ireland last night on the way to Dublin.