Local councillor and farmer John Dolan has stated to the Athlone Advertiser this week that farmers from the Midlands region are “right to protest” at the constant stream of regulation, bureaucracy and negativity expressed towards the agriculture sector by both the EU and the Government.
“While I cannot condone some of the protest activities in Europe against the various different issues that the agriculture industry is facing, I can totally agree with the anger and ongoing frustration at the manner in which farmers are being treated and marginalized by the EU, Government and the media in the recent past. I know that farmers have had enough of it.
“Irish farmers produce some of the highest quality food in the world, in a sustainable way, with our produce being among the lowest carbon per litre or kilo in the world and, more importantly, all fully traceable from farm to fork.
“We, as a nation, should be really proud of our unique reputation and be using this to expand our production of food and replace food produced from high input systems around the world. European farmers farm to strict rules and environmental regulations that don’t apply elsewhere and yet imported food can be brought into the EU with no traceability at all, which is grossly unfair,” Cllr Dolan said.
The Fine Gael elected representative stated that he had heard from parents of school going children who are being informed that cows are a major cause of climate change and that the herd should be culled.
“I have heard of schoolchildren in County Westmeath being thought that cows are the major cause of climate change and the only solution is to get rid of them! There seems to be a lot of fake news out there and Irish agriculture has a great story to tell but this story never seems to get told.
“Agriculture is the only sector with a plan to cut its carbon emissions in a targeted way with no decrease in production. Other sectors could learn from agriculture and use our green image to promote Ireland as an environment friendly country.
“However, if farmers are continually blamed for climate change and scrutinised in a manner which other sectors seem not to be, then we will see more and more protests and farmer frustration and anger increasing.
“We all need to remember that we need farmers at least three times a day to provide our food for us and every day to maintain our beautiful countryside and rural communities,” Cllr Dolan concluded.
