PRESIDENT-ELECT of the Irish Farmers’ Association John Bryan said last night he would be a strong voice for farmers in the next four years when he heads the 87,000-strong organisation.
The former garda said he had identified as his priority the need to increase farm incomes, take costs out of farming, take on the retailers and work with the processors to get better margins for producers.
He said at a press conference after his election he was not confrontational and described himself as “a negotiator”, going back to his days on the beat in Dublin.
“That is my skill. I would talk forever and that is the truth and usually you get a result if you talk, if both sides want to sit down and be reasonable. If you cannot, then you have to look at other options.”
The farmer from Cappagh, Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, said he wanted to see farming acknowledged for what it was, a very productive sector which generated €8.5 billion and 270,000 jobs.
“Longer term we sustain life in every parish in Ireland. If you took those farmers out of those parishes, you would have land abandonment. You would destroy rural Ireland. Look at the contribution we make to the GAA by sustaining farm families.
“Brendan Smith, the Minister for Agriculture, needs to acknowledge the contribution we make economically, socially and environmentally and to animal welfare is way disproportionate to what is acknowledged some of the time.
“Bearing that in mind, the Minister should look on us as a very productive sector that makes long-term contributions to everything, the environment and the social fabric of Ireland to which we are vital.”
Mr Bryan said Ireland still had a vibrant rural society and life could not just be measured in pounds, shillings and pence. He “just loved” living in rural Ireland but he said the costs in farming had gone completely out of line.