Local farmers take frustrations to the streets
SLIGO farmers who are at the pin of their collar dealing with increased costs and what were described as “mountains” of red tape took to the streets this week in Sligo and Leitrim to vent their anger at the challenges they are facing to make a living.
Approximately 80 farmers gathered outside the monthly meeting of Sligo County Council at County Hall, Riverside on Monday to make their case.
In response councillors suspended standing orders twice at the start of their meeting to allow an emergency motion on the plight of Sligo farmers to be discussed.
One councillor, Martin Connolly, summed up the sense of farmer frustration when he told fellow councillors: “Farmers want to work the farm, they don’t want to be sitting behind a desk filling out paperwork, and that’s where we are heading.”
IFA chairman Michael O’Dowd speaking outside County Hall told the Sligo Weekender: “We’re down here to bring this campaign local. These are our local county councillors, there are elections in June.
“We want them to be clear on the difficulties that farmers are dealing with.
“We welcome the fact that they have suspended standing orders for their meeting to allow a special motion on the issues facing farmers to be discussed, that is really important.
“We need to make progress on the issues we face - farming is in a crisis with all the rules and regulations and red tape we face.”
Cllr Michael Clarke, himself a farmer, said the EEC and now EU had to take a lot of the blame for the state farming and fisheries now finds itself in: “When we joined the EEC a farmer would have to sell 60 fattened lambs to buy a tractor, today they would have to sell 600 lambs to buy a new tractor, that is what has happened through joining Europe, farmers have been badly treated down through the years.
“Governments should remember we are only one season away from food shortages and two seasons away from famine”.