Angry Offaly farmers heckle Taoiseach at road protest

Up to 400 angry farmers including a sizeable Offaly contingent heckled Taoiseach Brian Cowen yesterday (Thursday) amid a noisy protest over cuts to the REPs scheme at the official opening of a new motorway in the midlands. 'Reverse the cuts' and a chorus of boos rang around the site as the din of the farmers, drawn from all over Offaly, Westmeath, Roscommon, Leitrim and Galway made their presence felt, drowning out many of the speeches on the day to mark the opening of the 20km road stretch linking Ballinasloe and Athlone as part of the Dublin to Galway motorway project. "We've had enough of Brian Cowen's cuts," Emmet Mooney from Ballyboy, who was holding an IFA banner told the Offaly Independent at the protest, which had a large garda presence. "He's been walking over the farmers long enough. He is after putting me out of coming in to farming by stopping me getting Installation Aid and helping me start. He also stopped the father getting the Early Retirement scheme. And, we're still waiting on the 60% grants for the shed, which was meant to be paid out last Christmas," he fumed. Deirdre Verney He predicted that this protest will be first of many until the Government do something to help the farmers amid the worsening prices for milk, beef, stock and lamb. "On the internet it says 75% of REPS is EU funded so they are handing back that 75% money that would have gone in to farming and the local community. All they had to do was come up with the 25% of the money. It's the same with the Early Retirement Scheme, Installation Aid, both of those are 60% funded by the EU. Wouldn't be easier to give Installation Aid and start me up in farming than put me on the dole?" Meanwhile, beef farmer Luke Mooney from Kilcormac said the wrong sectors of society are being targeted for cuts and there will be a backlash at the next election as a result. "It's outrageous what's going on in this country. They ran it in the ground and now they are asking the ordinary people to pay for the problem they created. The bankers, some of them were let off with a €27 million of a pension, and more of them, like the financial regulator, get a €630,000 of a golden handshake for doing a bad job. The politicians didn't take too many cuts," he said. Down over €20,000 a year as a result of the slashing of REPS and other schemes since the budget, Mr Mooney said farmers are very extremely angry, pointing out this will be the first of many demonstrations until there are some changes. "I hope somebody will see the light because there is no point in biting the hand that feeds them. They need us to get them out of the hole they are in," the farmer noted. Also speaking at the peaceful protest, Regional Development Officer with the IFA in Tullamore Willie Dolan said farmers took huge cuts in the budget last year and they thought that it would be the end of it, but now the Government have come back to erode profits again. "We cannot take it and a strong message has went to the Taoiseach in relation to that today. This is not the end because the IFA cannot stand and take these cuts. If we do farming and rural Ireland will be out of business. It's not alone farmers who will affected, any money that comes in to rural communities is spent in rural communities. Any money a farmer gets he spends in his own community, he spends on his farm and the countryside. He continued: "We have only one industry left in Ireland - and that is agriculture. If we take agriculture out of this country we have nothing left, we've no other industry left apart from services so it's a very stupid move to attack agriculture, which is keeping the country alive at the moment Although Taoiseach Brian Cowen went over to speak with farmers at the end of proceedings at the motorway opening, the chorus of boos drowned him out such was the anger on the day. The new road, which is expected to up to 15 minutes off the journey between the two towns will also take over 12,300 vehicles per day from the existing single carriageway. "A good quality road network is essential in Ireland, given the predominant role of road transport in the movement of people and goods. Upgrading our national transport networks is also a key element in enhancing regional accessibility, connectivity and balanced regional development. The Government has devoted considerable resources in recent years to improving the major inter-urban motorway and dual carriageway network," the Taoiseach said. The next section of the Dublin to Galway motorway, a 56 kilometre stretch from Ballinasloe to Galway will be complete by the second quarter of 2010.