Tag Archives: Clare IFA

Meetings with Oireachtas members highlight Clare farming issues ahead of Budget 2022, reports Dan Danaher CLARE farmers are being urged to lobby local Oireachtas members to tackle agricultural issues in the run up to the Budget. As part of a series of meetings with Oireachtas members, Clare IFA chairman, Tom Lane met Deputy Joe Carey, Deputy Violet Anne-Wynne, Deputy Cathal Crowe, Senator Timmy Dooley and Senator Martin Conway to discuss a number of key farming issues. While Oireachtas members were not in a position to give any firm commitments ahead of the Budget, they have pledged to raise IFA concerns with the relevant government ministers. Speaking to The Clare Champion, Mr Lane urged farmers to familiarise themselves with the IFA’s Pre-Budget Submission and CAP proposals, with a view to voicing concerns or making proposals for improvement in agricultural policies to their local Oireachtas member. He stressed farming is entering a critical period with a number of key issues to be …

CLARE IFA officers are planning to seek a meeting with Kepak representatives amid growing concern about whether their meat factory in Drumquin will re-open following its closure on February 14. IFA chairman, Tom Lane told the Clare Champion officers were keen to meet Kepak executives to question them about their future plans for the plant. Mr Lane said Kepak had some contracts with local beef finishers, which it was honouring by slaughtering their animals outside the county. “I would like to see Kepak re-open in Drumquin,” he said. Clare Beef Plan chairman, Joe Woulfe has expressed concern about the long delay in re-opening Kepak’s Drumquin plant. Mr Woulfe is worried that Kepak’s Clare plant may not re-open and has been informed that some equipment may have been transferred off site. He said management should have sat down with local farming representatives to work out a future for the plant. Last February, Kepak staff were told two days before its closure …

CLARE IFA chairman, Willie Hanrahan, is encouraging farm families to attend the organisations executive meeting tonight (November 14) in Treacy’s West County Hotel at 8.30pm. The meeting will address concerns regarding rural crime in Clare.  Guest speakers will include Barry Carey, IFA Rural Crime Prevention Officer, William Shortall IFA Health and Safety Officer and Garda Sergeant Triona O’Rourke, Rural Crime Prevention Officer. Recently addressing the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality, IFA Deputy President Richard Kennedy called for the establishment of a dedicated Rural Crime Task Force. He highlighted how a similar UK task force has been successful in tackling rural crime. “Over the last year, several serious incidents have occurred on farms. Many farmers and rural dwellers live in real fear for their safety, which is compounded by geographic and service isolation. Theft of valuables from rural homes and of livestock and machinery from farms is also a major concern.” The IFA Deputy President said there is a …

THE Clare Champion’s Dan Danaher has been nominated for a 2016 Agricultural Journalism Award. Organised by the Guild of Agricultural Journalists, these bi-annual awards seek to encourage excellence in the coverage of farming, food and rural life in Ireland. Mr Danaher is one of three nominated for the Best Print Feature award, for his coverage of the 60th anniversary of the Clare IFA. In November of last year, Dan was responsible for over two pages of coverage of the milestone. There were 55 entries in the category and he has been shortlisted alongside Declan O’Brien of the Farming Independent and Patrick Donohoe of the Irish Farmers Journal. Dan acknowledged he is an admirer of the work done by the IFA. “There are a lot of volunteers who play an active role who are not paid and who do a lot of  work on behalf of the members.” Speaking about his coverage of the 60th anniversary, he said one of his …

THE IFA should end all “Celtic Tiger” contracts for new senior officials, including president, in the national organisation, the newly-elected Clare chairman has said. Willie Hanrahan has proposed that the salary for the next IFA president should be in the region of the €82,258 paid to a Dáil deputy, plus legitimate expenses. The Doonbeg dairy farmer wants the salaries of all senior officers and the general secretary included in the IFA’s annual general accounts in a bid to introduce proper openness and transparency to the organisation, which was left reeling by the controversy surrounding huge payments to key personnel last year. Acknowledging that this controversy seriously undermined the trust of farmers in the organisation during “dark days” last year, he pointed out that “Celtic Tiger contracts” paid to some officials were not adjusted during austerity times. He stressed that the IFA should become a “bottom-up” farmer-led organisation in a new change of direction, as it had evolved into a “top-down …

A special stone plaque commemorating the life of a Corofin “natural farming leader” will be revealed at the Clare IFA 60th anniversary dinner dance in Treacy’s West County Hotel on Saturday night. Clare IFA will present the plaque to the family of the late Tom Cahill, who will lay it on his grave at Corofin cemetery after the function. The citation on the stone reads, “Tom Cahill, in recognition of your outstanding contribution to Irish farming, Clare IFA”. The first Clare IFA chairman was one of the most influential figures in local and national politics for years, particularly during the formative years of the new association. Among his main achievements was being a founder member of National Farmers’ Association (NFA) in 1955, which later became the IFA, serving as secretary of the national council. A staunch supporter of farmers’ rights, he devoted his life to improving the supports for farmers and left a huge legacy to Irish agriculture when he …

An IFA delegation, led by President Eddie Downey and Clare chairman, Andrew Dundas, met with the Minister of State for the OPW, Simon Harris on Wednesday  to press for the repair of embankments damaged in the severe storms of early 2014. IFA has secured a commitment from Minister Harris that he will move this issue on over the coming weeks so that the necessary works can commence. Eddie Downey told the minister that farmers’ lands have been damaged and that the repairs of embankments are necessary to get the land back into production. The delegation told the minister that delays are intolerable and it is not acceptable that there is nobody making a firm decision on the issue. The OPW should take responsibility to ensure that farmers and properties are protected and should instruct Clare County Council that support will be forthcoming through the various schemes under the OPW’s control. Clare IFA chairman, Andrew Dundas said there is huge frustration …

IFA president, Eddie Downey has paid tribute to Tom Cahill one of the nine central figures in the historic Farmers’ Rights campaign of 1966, who passed away last night. Tom Cahill, from Ballyportry, Corofin, was the last surviving member of the nine farmers who led more than 40,000 farmers in a march to Dublin after which Tom, along with eight other selected representatives, made their way to the Department of Agriculture to meet with the minister. When the minister refused to speak with the group, they staged a sit-in on the steps outside Government Buildings, which lasted 21 days, before the Government backtracked and agreed to discuss the concerns of the farming community. IFA president, Eddie Downey said the legacy of the effort and the hard work by Tom Cahill and his farmer colleagues in 1966 is evident in the continued survival of not just the IFA, but the farming community. Mr Downey said he believed the effort made by …