“It is time for the political system to stand up for farming and food production,” said IFA president, Francie O’Gorman. “As farmers, we are proud of what we do and how we do it. Farmers are sick of being over-regulated and underpaid. Enough is enough,” he said.
Launching the Manifesto for the European Parliament and Local Government Elections on June 7, the IFA president said the IFA has identified nine issues using the acronym CORE for the four key European priorities and PLACE for the five top local election issues.
“There are hundreds of issues dealt with in our manifesto across all commodities. However, we have distilled the issues down to nine key messages,” he said.
The CORE EU issues are: CAP; Over-regulation; Retain the Nitrates Derogation; and Environmental fairness.
The PLACE local-election issues are: Planning; Land tax on zoned residential land; Ash dieback on local roads; Connectivity; and Environmental inspections by local authorities.
“Farmers are frustrated with how they have been treated by the political system in recent years. There has been a complete focus on environmental sustainability, but insufficient consideration for economic and social sustainability,” Francie said.
“Candidates who want an understanding of what matters to farmers can find our issues in the manifesto that we have produced. It reflects the discussions that happen at our County Executives, our National Committees and National Council, which is made up of our democratically elected farmer officers,” he said.
Regional meetings
The IFA will be holding four regional meetings in April and May, which will give farmers the opportunity to hear from the candidates running in the European Parliament elections.
The first meeting for Ireland South will be in Cork Marts in Fermoy on Tuesday, Apil 30, followed by the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris on Thursday, May 2 for the Midlands-North West constituency.
Gowran Park Racecourse will host a second meeting for Ireland South on Tuesday, May 7, followed by a second meeting for Midlands-North West in the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar on Wednesday, May 8.