Tag Archives: IFA

CONFIDENCE in the country’s leading lobby group and largest farming organisation received another hammer blow this week when it was revealed that outgoing Irish Farmers’ Association’s presidents received a year’s salary as “a golden handshake”. “There is massive disappointment regarding the presidents’ golden handshake. Farmers are really disappointed, more than anything else. We knew the general secretary was on big money but it turns out that it was bigger than we knew,” said Ardrahan farmer and Galway IFA chairman Pat Murphy. While revelations about the pay of former general secretary Pat Smith rocked the IFA in recent weeks, the full scale of his pay and pension contributions since 2009 were revealed at a marathon meeting of the IFA national executive on Tuesday. The new information was contained in the report and recommendations on the association’s structures and procedures and certain remuneration issues presented by former IFA chief economist and Clare-man Con Lucey. It shows that Mr Smith received more, each …

The race has officially begun to find a successor former IFA president, Eddie Downey, who resigned recently amid the controversy over salary payments to top figures in the organisation. IFA national treasurer and returning officer (NTRO), Jer Bergin has today (Thursday) opened nominations for the position of president of the organisation. The resignation of Eddie Downey means an election for president must be held, involving the members voting in the branches. The National Rules Committee met yesterday and advised the NTRO to seek nominations for the position of president, which he has notified to county executives. The nominations must be returned by 5.30pm on Wednesday, January 6, 2016.

IFA President Eddie Downey has welcomed Justice Minister Francis Fitzgerald’s commitment to look more closely at the proposal to provide greater certainty to the legal status of prenuptial agreements. The uncertainty surrounding the legal recognition of prenuptial agreements, in the event of marriage breakdown, is a real issue which is impacting negatively on the timely lifetime transfer of the family farm, according to Mr Downey.. He said, “IFA is supportive of measures that can remove barriers to family farm transfer, and I emphasised to the minister that allaying the fears of parents would be an important supporting mechanism to facilitate the orderly transfer of the family farm. This is in line with other key policy measures required to address issues such as income security. This includes include IFA’s priority taxation proposal for this year’s budget, which would provide an incentive, through the taxation system for parents and children to farm in partnership together, prior to the lifetime transfer of the …

ELDERLY farmers living in isolated areas could be targeted by criminals following the publication of names of recipients of direct Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) payments. Under CAP, for the 12 months up to October 2014, €75.58 million was shared by 6,310 Clare farmers. Farm leaders believe some elderly farmers in very rural areas “are now living in fear that criminals will use the details of their CAP payments as a reason to attack them and extort money from them in their own homes”. The publication of payments on the Department of Agriculture website has been described as an “invasion of privacy” and farm leaders are angry that they are the only group that has been singled out for what they claim is unfair treatment. Farm leaders have also pointed out that the published figures for individual farmers are gross amounts that do not represent the real profit on a farm after all the day-to-day expenses and costs are deducted. The …

IFA president, Eddie Downey has called on Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe to work with the organisation to develop a voluntary package of measures that facilitates the development of proposed Greenway projects, while protecting farmers’ rights. He said, “The Government plans to develop over 330km of Greenway tracks across the country over the next number of years. These projects have the potential to attract tourists and economic development to many rural areas.” However, Mr Downey said they will also significantly impact on farmers and may in some instances divide farm holdings. “This is leading to landowners firmly opposing the use of CPOs, which may have a negative impact on the long-term success of the Greenways initiative. Therefore, it is essential that a robust package of measures is put in place which recognises the inconvenience, severance and injurious affection caused and goodwill required.” The IFA leader has also called on local authorities to engage in this process with the Department of Transport …

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 …

The IFA’s new Forest Assessor service is to be outlined to farmers from the Mid-West at a special demonstration in Templeglantine next Tuesday night. Forest Assessor is a new service offered by IFA that independently analyses forests so that farmers know the value of their forest before going to the market. IFA Farm Forestry chairman, Michael Fleming said, “Forest Assessor uses the most up-to-date technology to measure plots within the forest and then produces a report for farmers showing expected harvest volumes. The report provides a detailed breakdown of timber products as well as the potential value of the timber, based on the latest timber market report. “Knowing the value of your timber before you harvest gives you more power when negotiating with potential buyers”, said Mr. Fleming. “The more knowledge you have on your forest, the more opportunity there is to capture value and maximise your return while protecting the long-term productivity of the forest”. A local farmer who …

IFA president, Eddie Downey has called on Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe to work with his organisation to develop a voluntary package of measures that facilitates the development of proposed Greenway projects, while protecting farmers’ rights. He said, “The Government plans to develop over 330km of Greenway tracks across the country over the next number of years.These projects have the potential to attract tourists and economic development to many rural areas”. However, the IFA president said they will also significantly impact on farmers and may in some instances divide farm holdings. “This is leading to landowners firmly opposing the use of CPOs, which may have a negative impact on the long-term success of the greenways initiative. Therefore it is essential that a robust package of measures is put in place which recognises the inconvenience, severance and injurious affection caused and goodwill required.” Mr Downey has also called on local authorities to engage in this process with the Department of Transport and …