Fiddler of Dooney competition makes a welcome return

THE Fiddler of Dooney competition took place in Sligo town recently.

Fiddlers gathered at the Methodist Church in Wine Street where Senior and Junior honours were up for grabs. Central to this year’s competition was the Scoil Eigse scholarship in memory of the late Ashling Murphy who previously performed at the Sligo competition.

To honour her memory, the Sligo Town branch of CCE awarded the scholarship to one talented, young fiddle player.

The recipient was Seanna Donohue from Co. Longford who was presented with the scholarship by Ashling’s parents, Ray and Kathleen. On both days competitors with friends and family came from all four provinces and one from the USA.

It was a decisive double win for Co. Cork as both the Senior and Junior winners were from the Rebel County.

Caoimhe Flannery from Rockchapel, Co. Cork, won the Senior competition as well as the title of The Fiddler of Dooney 2023, while the Junior winner, Meadhbh Ní Chathasaigh, hails from the outskirts of Cork city.

In the face of strong competition, Caoimhe proved her undisputed talent with an outstanding performance.

This year’s Senior winner’s plate was especially designed by local ceramicist Tom Callery. Tom’s late wife, potter Gráinne McLoughlin, sadly passed away in 2021.

Gráinne had, for many years, designed the Fiddler of Dooney ceramic plate.

IFA National Sheep chair Kevin Comiskey has said the terms and conditions issued by the Department of Agriculture for the advance payment of the Fodder Support Scheme is another example of sheep farmers being left behind by the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

Mr Comiskey said the scheme is only available to farmers who qualified for payments in 2022 and is based on saving hay and silage. The IFA National Sheep chair said a large cohort of sheep farmers operating in hill areas were unable to claim the scheme this year and have now also been ruled out of the €30m scheme.

He said IFA highlighted concerns for the store lamb trade to the Minister and his officials earlier this year and this has now come to pass with a very difficult store trade for lighter hill lambs in particular, which are the same cohort of farmers ruled out of this scheme. Mr Comiskey said the lack of support for sheep farmers from the Minister has reached a critical stage and the failure of the Minister and his officials to address the shortcomings in the original Fodder Support Scheme has angered sheep farmers.

The IFA National Sheep chair said the Minister must come forward with meaningful targeted supports for sheep farmers in recognition of the current difficulties on farms and the market failure to return production cost increases.

Factory prices are now up to €12/lamb behind last year despite the increased production costs on farms.

This is not sustainable in a low-income vulnerable sector and must be offset by direct supports.

He said the Minister must, as a matter of urgency, commit funding to a targeted scheme for sheep farmers that will bring direct supports for the sector up to €30/ewe. Mr Comiskey said it is ironic sheep farming is one of the most environmentally sustainable farming systems in the country yet it is the one system that government have failed to support throughout this crisis and in the new CAP for next year.

Mr Comiskey said the Department of Agriculture’s Annual Review and Outlook 2022 clearly sets out the crisis facing sheep farms as market prices fail to reflect the higher production costs on farms.

He said prices are currently 23c/kg behind last year’s levels or almost €5/lamb, despite the enormous input cost increases of over 30%.

“The sheep sector is in crisis. The store lamb trade, particularly lighter stores, are under severe pressure.

“Farmers who bought stores earlier in the year are not getting the market returns needed and all sheep farmers face a critical income situation,” he said.

Up to 120% of income on sheep farms is from Direct Payments and with a projected 20% reduction in market returns, this dependence will increase significantly in 2022.

IFA identified these concerns to the Minister for Agriculture earlier this year as input costs increased, but no action has been taken. Mr Comiskey said immediate direct supports are needed to restore confidence, including a targeted payment for farmers finishing lambs and a payment of €30/ewe.

He said: “The Minister cannot shy away from supporting our second largest farm sector, which is the only source of vital economic and social activity in some of the most rural parts of the country while also adding to environmental objectives and driving biodiversity.”

Mr Comiskey has called on rural TDs to come out in support of sheep farmers and ensure the Minister comes forward with immediate support for the sector.

“€12/ewe does not cut it. We need €30/ ewe and targeted payments for finishing lambs over the expensive winter period. The Department’s own annual review highlights the seriousness of the situation, and the Minister must now act,” he said.

IFA National Livestock chair Brendan Golden said factories are currently filling orders for the lucrative Christmas market for beef and with supplies of suitably finished prime cattle tightening, prices must move on to reflect the full value of this market.

The IFA National Livestock chair said beef prices have lagged behind the Bord Bia Prime Export Benchmark price by upwards of 30c/ kg for the past number of weeks and this is not acceptable.

He said factories can and must do more to return the value of the market to farmers in higher beef prices.

Mr Golden said the projected increase in the kill for the year has already come through the system with over 120,000 more cattle processed to-date and numbers are expected to drop in line with last year’s throughput or below for the remainder of the year.

Last week’s throughput showed a drop of 1500 head in steer numbers alone and these are the prime cattle factories needed to fill the supermarket orders for the Christmas market.

The IFA National Livestock chair said very few grass cattle are now left on the ground and factories will have to come forward with strong and meaningful beef price increases to entice farmers to short finish cattle in sheds and have them available over the coming weeks to fill Christmas orders.

He said deals are already being done as cracks appear in the stranglehold factories have had on prices over the past few weeks and it is important farmers sell hard to take back control of the market conditions.

Mr Golden said there is up to 20c/kg of a difference in quotes and prices paid to farmers with very few farmers now accepting the lower quotes offered by some factories.

Brendan Golden said factories and retailers are acutely aware of the production costs beef farmers are exposed to for this winter and beef prices of €5.85/6.00/kg must be the target.