Jul 09
14
Mock Funeral to Mark the Demise of Irish Agriculture
Donegal IFA Members protesting at the Reps Cuts outside Niall Blaney's Ofiice in Letterkenny on Saturday. The ICSA have plans to make their voices heard this Thursday. Photo Clive Wasson
Members of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmer’s Association (ICSA) will hold a mock funeral to commemorate the demise of Irish agriculture on Thursday morning, 16th July in Raphoe, Co. Donegal.
The funeral cortège, led by the grim reaper, will assemble at Raphoe mart at 11am and will process to the Department of Agriculture offices where a minutes silence will be observed.
ICSA president Malcolm Thompson said “The closure of REPS 4 is another nail in the coffin of farming. We can no longer stand idly by and take cut after cut to our livelihoods.
For too long, farmers have accepted an unfair share of the burden. They have been subjected to savage cuts in the October and April budgets along with the introduction of staged payments of the Farm Waste Management Grant. Farm incomes are down 13.7% in 2008 already. We have no option left but to fight back.”
Members of the IFA, seen in photo made their views known at the offices of Neil Blaney and Tanaiste Mary Coughlan on Saturday.
