A New Holland combine harvester rolled into Dublin city centre this morning as IFA grain farmers entered their sixth day of protest at the Department of Agriculture headquarters.

IFA president, Joe Healy, drove the combine down past the Shelbourne Hotel until it came to a stop outside Agriculture House.

He then addressed the farmers gathered outside calling for Minister Michael Creed to sit down and discuss a resolution: “The mentality is strong the resolve is growing and there is a lot of anger.

“All we need now is the Minister and the Department to sit down with us. There has been a lot of traction here, even with people coming up to us on the street.

“They are showing their support and are fully aware of the need to protect the tillage sector.”

Leader of the protest, Liam Dunne, said that it’s the start of the harvest for a lot of farmers but they are here supporting us.

“There has been support across the weekend, more than I thought. Yesterday afternoon there was a great turn out. We actually had a pig on the spit.

“IFA is a united organisation, we are here for one another. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of corn grown in Leitrim or Cavan but when they came up and saw the straw outside, they say “that’s why we are here, supporting the grain man because without him, we wouldn’t have straw”.

Dunne said that everything is intertwined, all farmers are interdependent on one another.

“There has been some communication between them inside.

“We have to put down a framework for talks and we are waiting on a response. You can see between the BBQ, the shower and the toilet that we are here for the long haul.”

Protest

Monday marks the sixth day of the IFA protest at the Department of Agriculture on Kildare St over the crop loss scheme for tillage farmers who suffered heavy financial losses during last year’s harvest.

Four farmers have occupied the offices since last Wednesday and they have been supported by farmers from around the country since then.

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IFA protest ready to occupy Agriculture House into next week

IFA ramps up tillage protest with arrival of combine in Dublin