The IFA needs to sort itself out quickly

Ironically at a time when the IFA is all at sea, the climate change summit in Paris has reinforced the view that Irish farmers need good, solid representation now more than ever.

In the runup to the Paris summit, I attended an environmental conference in Italy at the end of November. Expert speakers from across the globe combined to give an overall presentation which is stark in its predictions for the future of the planet unless action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I assume we all accept that climate change is a real challenge facing humanity that has and is being created by human endeavour, including more industrialised farming. If so, there is no doubt that the way we produce food and the way we eat in the future will be front and centre to efforts to slow down the rate of global warming. Subsidy sapping livestock production is most definitely first in the firing line when it comes to agriculture playing its part.

Apart from the negative contribution which methane makes to the environment, the stress on water and grain is also immense. This is at a time when we are looking for scarce resources such as water and arable land to produce more food to feed an increasing world population. A population becoming more dependent on dairy and meat-based food.

This has only served to accelerate the global campaign against red meat consumption. And it’s a campaign that is not without sound logic, whether farmers like it or not.

In fact, we were reminded during a Morning Ireland discussion last week that it has been suggested Ireland get out of beef production altogether, that our beef farmers become foresters. The IFA needs to sort itself out, and quick.

The best tip for curing insomnia

There are few of us that haven’t been affected by insomnia at some stage of our lives. I think the older we get, the more chance we have of not being able to sleep easily for one reason or another. It’s estimated that one in five of us will suffer from insomnia at some stage and that doesn’t include instances of not being able to sleep due to acute situations such as bereavement or stress.

Anyway, I heard Joe Duffy talk about what he does when he can’t sleep at night. He imagines what the quickest route would be for a fire engine from Tara Street in Dublin to reach a fire in the Phoenix Park. He would begin the process in his head of working out what way the fire engine would go and before he knows it he is out for the count. Ingenious.

I laughed because on the odd occasion where I’m looking up the ceiling in the middle of the night, I try to tire the brain by picking teams, the best team I have ever seen, the worst team, the dirtiest team and so on.

But I have done that so often that I need to come up with news lists each time. So I pick Manchester United teams of varying genres, such as the best Irish Man United X1, Alex Fergusons worst signings or a United team of players with V in their name. Van der Saar, G Neville, Vidic, Evra, P. Neville, Valencia, Veron, Tevez, Van Persie, Van Nistelrooy, Berbatov and so on and then I’m usually conked out within minutes.

Now though, I just rerun the latest United game I’ve watched in my head and it doesn’t take me long to nod off. So thanks Louis Van Gaal for this new cure for insomnia.