Delegates from the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Irish Cattle and Sheep Association (ICSA) and Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) will be protesting outside the RVL in Doonally, Sligo, on Wednesday.

IFA Sligo chair JP Cowley is expecting hundreds of farmers to turn up at the event.

“We have buses coming in from Donegal, Monaghan, Cavan, Mayo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Galway,” said Cowley. “All of these counties would be affected if Sligo closes.”

If you’re from Donegal, it would take you a day to get there and back

The next closest lab for farmers in these counties is the one in Athlone.

“If you’re from Donegal, it would take you a day to get there and back,” Cowley added. “It’s just not practical for these farmers”.

IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy, Connacht chair Padraic Joyce and the county chairs of all the above counties will also attend the protest.

Petition

In anticipation of the protest, part-time suckler farmer Trevor Boland, who is from Dromard in Co Sligo, set up a petition to garner support for the RVL.

The petition, which currently has over 400 signatures, can be signed here.

ICSA

The ICSA will also be at the event. Gabriel Gilmartin, Sligo chair, told the Irish Farmers Journal that farmers in the west are being “forgotten” by the Government.

Who is going to throw a dead cow into the back of a trailer and bring it all the way to Kildare?

“If this RVL closes, the next closest lab is in Athlone,” he said. “And if they close Athlone, the next closest will be in Kildare. This is way too far for farmers in the west. Who is going to throw a dead cow into the back of a trailer and bring it all the way to Kildare? By the time they get the test results, it could be too late for the rest of the herd. The west of Ireland is being forgotten by the Government.”

ICMSA

A spokesman for the ICMSA said the organisation "categorically rejects" the idea that any of the six remaining regional veterinary labs could even be considered for closure. "The closure of the Doonally lab in Sligo would leave farmers in say, Belmullet, having to travel to Athlone to get access to a lab," he said. "It’s a very serious blow to the agri-infrastructure and services that farmers in the northwest – no more than any other group farmers in the state - have a right to expect."

The planned protest follows protests in Meelick, Co Limerick and Kilkenny.

Background

Last month, the Irish Farmers Journal revealed that the Department of Agriculture’s six RVLs are subject to a major internal review headed by Professor Alan Reilly, the former chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

One of the recommendations from the report is to, in time, close Limerick, Sligo and Kilkenny, with an upgrading of the facilities at the other three labs. Another recommendation is to close all bar Backweston, Co Kildare, and put out a fleet of vans on the road to carry out the roles of vets in the various RVLs.

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