JOAN FITZPATRICK,
Madam, - As a farm woman and former chair of the IFA's farm family committee, the past week has given me and my family a real sense of hope that our voice will be heard in Government Buildings and elsewhere, where policies are decided that profoundly affect our future and the future of other farm families.
I congratulate all those involved in organising and leading the most professional and focused protest I have witnessed.
Talking to fellow farmers in Kilkenny on Thursday morning as they set off on their tractors to Dublin there was a real sense of relief that at last real action was being taken to highlight the issue of falling income. Farmers are frustrated that what was once a satisfying and rewarding life is slowly turning into an over-regulated industry, top-heavy with paperwork and bureaucracy. We now find that our financial reward bears no relation to the effort to comply with all the paperwork.
It is time for policy makers and the public to decide what kind of rural Ireland they want. What longterm policies are needed to encourage young people and women to remain part of the fabric of rural communities.
The protest opened up a debate on the issues involved and the level of income generated on the average family farm. Farmers like us have invested hugely in developing and modernising our farms. Are we to turn our backs on all this effort and hard work and allow less committed business interests to dictate our future as family farmers? Whose interests are served by ignoring the contribution of family farming to rural development?
Farmers are at the core of development of rural areas, are involved at all levels of activities in their community. It is imperative therefore that our concerns are listened to and taken on board by policy makers and Government officials. - Yours, etc.,
JOAN FITZPATRICK, Ballinamara, Rathmoyle, Co Kilkenny.
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Madam, - Thank you for your many references to the Farmers' Journal during the recent period when the national spotlight was so searchingly on farming. But may I clarify two points arising from your edition of Saturday, January 12th.
1. On the edition of January 4th, the Journal did announce, contrary to your statement, the forthcoming IFA tractor demonstration, on page one and amplified it fully on page three.
2. The Journal predated the formation of the NFU/IFA by several years. Our founder owner believed strongly in the desirability and necessity of a strong national informed farming organisation and was one of the founders of the IFA (NFA).
We are not the organ - official or otherwise - of the IFA, though we share, not surprisingly, many of its aspirations and policies. Due to the extraordinary philanthropic act of John Mooney, our founder, in donating the Journal to a charitable trust, we are mandated solely to enhance the well being of the farming and rural sector. - Yours, etc.,
MATTHEW DEMPSEY, Editor and Chief Executive, Irish Farmers' Journal, Irish Farm Centre, Dublin 12.