“Over my dead body will this country plant 970,000ac of Sitka spruce trees. Over my dead body.”

These were the words of Mayo chair of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) Gerry Loftus at the Department of Agriculture’s CAP consultation meeting in Carrick-on-Shannon on Wednesday night.

Prior to the meeting, members of the so-called Save Leitrim group staged a protest against the growing trend of forestry plantings in the county.

The meeting was addressed by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed, who acknowledged the peaceful protest of the group, whose members stood holding banners and placards at the back of the room when he spoke.

In terms of actual conversation and dialogue regarding the future direction of the CAP, there was little in the way of debate outside of the speakers who addressed the meeting, including Keven Hanrahan of Teagasc and Jack Nolan from the Department.

‘Get rid of those schemes Coveney set up’

The common thread among the 400 in attendance was the need for the next CAP to be easier to navigate and have much less bureaucracy.

Mary Rooney, again of the INHFA, generated the largest round of applause of the night when she took aim at the former Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.

Coveney’s fingerprints are on many of the current Department schemes including the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) and the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS).

If we all stop farming, minister, there’ll be no need for ye

“The Sheep Welfare Scheme is a pleasure to deal with it, a real pleasure. There’s no red tape and it’s easy to work through. The forms are clear and it’s all straightforward, not like a lot of other schemes you [the Department] have," said Rooney from the floor. "Get rid of those schemes that [Simon] Coveney set up."

“If we all stop farming, minister, there’ll be no need for ye [the Department of Agriculture]," she said.

Vocal

Irish Farmers Association (IFA) members were very vocal and asked most questions on the night.

They spoke passionately about the need for a well-funded and strategically targeted CAP budget.

Padraic Joyce, the IFA's Connacht chair, said the next CAP budget cannot be cut and must be strengthened.

In his concluding remarks, Minister Creed acknowledged the need for the CAP to be simpler and easier for farmers to use.

He said each European country will have more autonomy to shape the finer points of the CAP. He also encouraged farmers to respond to a consultation document on what they want to see in the next CAP before the end of March.

The series of CAP consultation meetings continue next week.

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