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 …
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