The mother and father of all battles is looming in rural Ireland between officialdom and farmers working some of the most beautiful areas. It's a classic conflict between habitat and humans as new regulations to protect flora and fauna are put in place.
The problem is that the 15,000 farmers whose lands are about to be designated National Heritage Areas, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas are afraid the restrictions placed on them will drive them off their lands.
Some one million acres are either already designated or about to be designated under the various schemes. While the schemes until now have been voluntary, Ireland's international commitments will mean that the new rules will be compulsory.
For example, the Department of Arts, Culture, Heritage and the Islands is now conducting a survey of Irish commonage land to determine what the stocking rates should be. Because much of the common land, especially in the west, is overgrazed and uncared for, the Heritage Department, Duchas, is likely to recommend total depopulation of many of these areas.
What horrifies farmers is the possibility that some 600,000 mountain ewes from commonages and mountains may come on the market at the same time, causing a collapse of the fragile sheep industry. Such a destocking policy could create havoc and the farm organisations are asking Duchas and the Department of Agriculture to introduce the changes gradually.
The Irish Farmers' Association believes that should there be a mass clearance of commonage, hill sheep farming will collapse and people will leave the hills. "There are huge socio-economic implications in what is going on. Take away the sheep and compensate the farmers and what will happen?" asks Mr Gerry Gunning, of the IFA.
"Farmers will take their compensation but eventually they will leave the hills and commonages and move into towns and cities and no one wants that."
Earlier this week, the IFA launched its campaign to gain full compensation for farmers who find that their land is to be designated under a scheme. The organisation chose Banagher, Co Offaly, the heartland of the Shannon callows (meadow wetlands), to launch the findings of a report it commissioned on losses farmers face when the official designations are made.
The report, compiled by Philip Farrelly and Company, agricultural consultants, from Navan, Co Meath, concentrated on two farms in the area which will face major restrictions on their operations when they are designated National Heritage Areas and Special Protection Areas.
The most interesting case involved the farm of Mr Michael Silk, at Esker, near Banagher, who is one of 1,000 Shannonside farmers whose lands will most definitely be designated a National Heritage Area and a Special Protection Area. The 50-acre farm is in prime corncrake country and is of national and international importance because of its location for the corncrake and wintering wildfowl and breeding waders.
When the designation is made, probably before the end of this year, Mr Silk will not be allowed to cut his hay until after August 1st. He then must mow from the centre outwards to protect nesting corncrakes. In addition, he will have to leave certain areas uncut and ungrazed.
He will also be banned from spreading fertiliser on certain fields. Where manure is applied, only farmyard manure will be allowed every three years. Zero fertiliser will be encouraged and pesticides or herbicides will not be permitted. Reseeding of land will also be banned.
The report concluded that Mr Silk, whose farm income was £8,828.60, will face a 35.7 per cent reduction in the annual production cycle. The total losses faced by Mr Silk will be £2,131.86p, and if he applied to join the Rural Environment Protection Scheme, which could deliver £4,240 each year, it would cost him an additional £12,000 to comply with its terms.
Taken in conjunction with the findings of a similar study on a farm in Co Roscommon, the report found that the losses are such that it will be too difficult for many of the callows farmers to continue to farm.
Mr Farrelly told the farmers who attended the meeting in Banagher that there was no way they could avoid the restrictions any more because of Ireland's commitments under international law.
"We are facing a very serious situation. These restrictions must be put in place. If adequate compensation is not provided to farmers in the callows this could lead to abandoning of farms there. This is the worst case scenario for both farmers and wildlife.
"If the callows are not managed each year their wildlife is at risk of being lost. Unmanaged callows will result in the encroaching of wet scrubland species, such as alder or willow; changing the vegetation, thus destroying the habitats of existing wild birds."
Mr Gunning said it was up to farmers to fight for proper compensation for the restrictions and no one wanted to see farmers having to leave their lands. "The truth is that conservationists do not want farmers to leave their lands either because someone has to manage farms for wildlife, but they must be compensated for doing so."
Next month, the IFA will launch another report, on the cost of living with the restrictions for farmers in the Burren, Co Clare.