Offaly IFA protests at Fianna Fáil think-in to put agriculture on the agenda

IFA members from across the country converged on the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone on Monday morning to ensure Fianna Fáil was thinking about agriculture at its annual think-in. Farmers, including members of Offaly IFA, had gathered outside the hotel from early morning and security was tight, with two checkpoints before you got to the hotel and a strong Garda presence. There were uniformed gardai, plain clothes detectives, members of the public order unit and a private security company on hand to ensure the think-in could proceed without disturbance from the protesters. But the farmers were there to make their point and wanted to ensure they would be heard and as the man who holds the public purse strings arrived the protest escalated. When Finance Minister Brian Lenihan pulled up at the hotel farmers began to break through the barriers and ran towards the hotel, taking everyone, even themselves, by surprise. But it was never going to be anything other than a peaceful protest and the Minister made it safely to the hotel, while the gardai quickly moved in to ensure the protestors were held back. But the message from the IFA was clear on Monday - the farmers wanted to get the Government thinking about agriculture again. Offaly IFA Chairman Aiden Larkin said Monday's think-in presented an opportunity for farmers to put agriculture on the agenda as the Fianna Fáil members gathered to talk about the state of the country. He said agriculture was the first industry to take the cuts in the last two budgets and the cuts recommended in the An Bord Snip Nua report was the final straw for farmers, who were hard pressed by these cuts. "Farmers can't take any more hits," said Mr Larkin. "The aggression on Monday was shown, people reacted spontaneously. On any of the protests I've seen the anger of farmers, I've seen elderly people who are totally dependent on REPS for their income." He said the IFA wanted the Government to sit down and look at the proposals it had made to save money, adding that there was a lot of waste within the department and the Government could make savings without cutting the REPS scheme, which allowed farmers to farm within the environmental standards set out.