Security a key concern around and about Ploughing faithful

Josephine Hickey, from Co Waterford.

“Break-ins would be the biggest issues for people at the moment. Older people being broken into, people afraid living on their own, machinery and cattle being stolen, it’s definitely a concern. It’s getting worse.

“There doesn’t seem to be any deterrent at all, they don’t seem to be getting caught. There’s no garda station where I’m from. There’s one guard covering a huge area, what can one man do? He’s not superman. Everyone tries to keep an eye out for themselves, each other and on older people. What else can we do?

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Teddy Cashman from Cork: “With farming, the issue is income and the security of income.” Photograph: The Irish Times

“We just hope that we get more guards. I heard the Commissioner say there will be more guards on the ground and that would be great. You feel more secure, no matter what you say about them, when you see them around, people feel more secure.”

Mary Kennedy from Co Longford.

“What people are most worried about right now is dairy and the prices. Young farmers investing in farming at the minute and it’s just uncertainty about the prices. It’s very concerning for them.

We’re retired almost and it’s not a big as a deal, we’ll get through. But young people have invested quite a lot.

“It’s only for people well established when the quotas were lifted they were able to expand but for young farmers getting in now it’s a worry. It’s just uncertain.”

Jack Headd, Lough Rea, Co Galway

"The big thing bothering me at home and for other farmers is a green way, a cycle way plus walk way, going right through our land. It's going right through the middle of a farmer's land. It's going from Dublin to Galway. It's a disaster for us. It's dividing up our land. We don't agree with the way its being done. We're not stopping it but we want them to take a different route. They haven't decided it fully yet but our route is the one they are really picking out.

“We’re not against tourists, or anybody who will use it, it’s they came the whole way from Dublin to Athlone and it didn’t interfere with anyone. Then they decided past Athlone they would go straight through the middle of farmer’s land, and split up your land in two or three different ways.

“We would prefer for them to go by railway tracks or the old N6 road. Dividing our land would mean changing our cattle, it would make life difficult. We already have a lot of trouble with crime in the West. This cycleway would make it easier for these people to get into farmer’s houses and property. The final report on this is going to the Minister in early October.”

Teddy Cashman, near Cork City

“With farming, the issue is income and the security of income. Whether you are a beef farmer, dairy farmer or tillage farmer, it’s what you think of. The farmers around us are talking about the price of their product, which is severely depressed right now. As in milk, it’s mostly dairy farming around us. That’s the biggest issue they have right now. That’s their biggest worry.

“We’re in a global scenario and it’s hard to know where it will go, when it’s going to turn. It is a worry. It’s down probably 35/36 per cent than it was last year round. People are thinking about paying the bills. It’s more about next year than this year, most guys will weather one bad year but two is difficult. There has been a lot of, what you could call euphoria, around dairy in the last few years. Having said that, it’s still an opportunity. If the banks deal with it properly and see it as being a short term volatility issue.

“The cycle has gone up in the past and it should do so again. Stick with guys who are committed to the job and have good financial planning.”