Farmers intent on showing their support for the IFA’s Save Irish Farming protest on Sunday began the long trip to Dublin on Saturday.

Among the first to set out was Corney Buckley from west Cork.

Farmers from the west were not hanging around.

Mayo chair Jarlath Walsh and his group were also on the road early on Saturday:

They joined the wider Connacht brigade to move on to Dublin:

There’s a combine en route from Wexford to join the tractorcade.

But while most of the IFA farmers are using horsepower to reach Dublin, Pat Murphy, the Connacht chair, is doing it on a bicycle.

On the day, tractors and machinery will move from IFA headquarters at the Irish Farm Centre in Dublin 12 to Merrion Square, where IFA president Tim Cullinan will set out why farmers are protesting and what they want the Government to do.

Prior to the event, Cullinan told the Irish Farmers Journal: “The reality is that IFA has been forced to have this protest because the Government has refused to engage with the IFA on a proper plan for the sector at farm level.”

“I would call again on the Government to negotiate with elected farm leaders and have meaningful engagement to agree a plan for the sector at farm level, including around the CAP.

“Farmers can play our part on climate change, but we need a plan with proper funding that guarantees economic, social and environmental sustainability,” he said.