Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) presidential candidate Martin Stapleton led a protest at the Department of Agriculture on Tuesday morning, calling on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to deliver farmer payments on time.

Stapleton, who was joined by a group of farmers who all came from within a 20km radius of his home farm in Limerick, told the Irish Farmers Journal that he hopes the protest will “sow the seed” for further farmer anger and action.

“The protest was completely impromptu. It wasn’t my initiative. It came from the farmers themselves and I was happy to support,” he said.

Payments

The demonstration at Ag House focused on changes to farm payment dates, set to be communicated to farmers this week.

“The Minister has taken a decision not to respect the payment dates that have been the same over the years. Someone had to make a point,” Stapleton said.

He said farmers are in “disbelief” that the expected Areas of National Constraint (ANC) and Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) payments are going to be delayed by three weeks to a month this year.

“There’s an expectation that the ANC will be paid the week of the Ploughing. The eco schemes, the first half of it, by 15 October,” he explained.

Ploughing

The IFA presidential candidate warned that unless Minister McConalogue corrects the delayed payments issue, he should stay clear of the Ploughing later this month.

“I want to send a message to the Minister: unless you sort this out, unless you are in a position to pay like you always do on the middle day of the Ploughing, I don’t see how you can come to the Ploughing, because you are going to face the wrath of 100,000 Irish farmers if you do,” he said.

Minister McConalogue was not available to meet with Stapleton at Ag House on Tuesday, but instead a senior Department official met with the farmers involved in the protest. Stapleton said he submitted a letter to the Minister, via the official, outlining his concerns.

“I hope he does come to the Ploughing with the cheque book,” he said, adding that he will continue to highlight the issue until farmers are paid on time.

Reaction

An IFA council meeting was also held on Tuesday at the Irish Farm Centre. After returning to the meeting from Ag House, Stapleton said there was “almost no criticism whatsoever” from his peers.