Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon was accused of “defying logic” in relation to the new Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 2 rules by the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) on Tuesday.

“This is our house and don’t forget it” was the message from former INHFA president Colm O’Donnell at a protest by the farm organisation over GAEC 2 regulations at Agriculture House in Dublin.

“It looks like Minister, you have the power to perform miracles, turning our mineral soil into peatland,” he told the crowd.

“It’s completely ridiculous what’s being proposed. Minister, you’re defying logic, you’re defying common sense, fairness and most of all science.”

Meanwhile, INHFA national council member Brendan Joyce said that the current regulations have restricted much of the mineral soil on hill farms.

“We have constructive answers here that would work for both hill farmers and lowland farmers because this will affect many people around the country. It’s something that can’t be allowed to go forward in its current format,” he said.

“This is in Ireland’s hands; it’s not a European decision. GAEC 2 is a European regulation but the standard is being written in Ireland’s context by our own department.”

In addition, association chair Vincent Roddy emphasised that these protests will continue until there is a fair resolution.

“We need to keep pushing this on definitely,” he said. “We hope that we can get a solution to this. If not, we’re not going to stop, we’ll keep trying to drive this on.”