Would you support a new Rural Political Party

The planning is ridiculous imo. A family near here all built on the farm and only one of them has any business being there. The rest of them spend their time driving in and out of the regional towns - where they should have settled in the first place. They dont really do anything in local area.

Think he said no financial support for lobby groups..Far as I am aware none of the farm lobby groups receive government funding unlike our beloved An Taisce.

All good is sourced from a farm at some point.

All of EU is in CAP which is the “tax payer money”.

Not sure where you are going to magic up all this food that is not producered by “over subsidied Irish farmers”.

Food and energy security are the next big issues in the next 10 years.

Thats either a circle we square ourself or we decimate the agri industry and instead import all food from nations that are not trying to limit production.

And I think agri will come close to targets in any case. There are lots of circles to be squared. And trade offs that may have to be made. But food…kinda crucial.

There's an argument that farms aren't economically viable because citizens like you aren't paying enough for your food and/or large supermarket chains etc are taking the lions share of the profits

Tbh I think you should be grateful for the way big business has trickled profits upwards and left family farms at or near subsistence producing food for you at low low prices for the past 40/50 years...

There's a very good argument that the grants/subsidies are what made farming unviable in the first place but they are also what left people with cheap food for so long. ..I'd be of the opinion you really wouldn't like the results if you are advocating what I think you are advocating in that post...say we did everything I think you are advocating including minimal importing of food into the country and most of our needs (not wants) provided from within ireland with excess exported, how much do you think it would have to cost to you without subsidisation for farmers to do it..(zero fertiliser etc)

Btw It's those same grants that will probably now aid in the country working towards meeting those targets...probably while the govt takes excess carbon credits under national competence and trades them to big business....

Your username is apt imo

If you need to have a number name on your house to distinguish it from the neighbours, your urban.

I would support a new Rural party that campaigns for rural matters like Closed garda stations , efforts to revitalise towns and villages etc ...but not one thats looking for more grants etc for dairy farmers driving 100K tractors !

Is there any good conservative party I can vote for. I see the refugees will get compensation now. If they don't get housed and the abortion laws are getting softened. I have a heart of gold but don't like getting rode. I feel I'm being pushed in to being right wing. This country is gone to far left. We can't save and keep happy the whole fuuucking world

They are perfectly entitled to it. But honestly think they would be happier living in a town.

True. But everyone would be better served if more housing was encouraged in villages. Affordable serviced sites and build what you want on it. You wouldn’t have to get into a car every time you need a litre of milk.

Why would people be happier living in a town. I grew up and lived in various parts of Dublin and again live in the north of the county which is still quite rural am much happier where I am now.

No constant traffic and light pollution.

No members of the local committee asking that we keep the grass cut and remove the wild flowers planted and instead put up hanging baskets like the rest of the houses that the committee have decided are to be used.

No complaints about me hammering out a couple of mortise on a piece of furniture I'm working on in the garage after nine at night or early on a Sunday or playing music while I do.

No complaints about having commercial vehicles parked in front of the house when some friends come to stay over.

Not having to tell people to f*ck off and mind their own business and keep their kids from running through the garden, kicking a ball against our wall or standing on top of my car.

Are you serious ?

They work in towns and wouldnt live there under any circumstances.Its nice to be able to live where you grew up .

Most people would rather commute than move to an urban area so what does that tell you ?

The planning permission thing is tricky. You can certainly make an argument that those growing up in a rural area and who wish to stay living in the community, should be able to get planning on family land etc., a free site. But this can be abused. I can think of someone in our locality who applied for site for family members, got PP and sold to third party, applied again, rinse & repeat. Took a few before the council said enough is enough. Two of the family now live in houses on the land but others don't or can't as system was exploited.

Yes, deprive everybody else because of one landowner know about, great logic.

There are rules usually to prevent this (enforcement is a different issue). I know for my house built on family owned land I was required to live in it for 5 years after completion.

It's a fair point, there's other parts of the country more suited to livestock farming than crops too. Rocky or wet ground isn't great either.

Historically though we didn't grow much Durum wheat or rice. I don't have statistics but I expect we eat a lot more pasta and rice compared to 30 years ago.

When people talk about reducing agriculture emissions they mostly see it as not their problem and they don't have to charge anything. It's why it's a big thing with the media, most of their consumers will agree because they think it doesn't impact them.

The danger for any rural party is that theyd be hijacked by rich dairy farmers looking for even more grants etc to make themselves richer .

Theres plenty of people in rural Ireland who are not farmers who deserve representation

That 5 yr rule was mainly honoured I the breach around here. I'm not even sure it was enforceable after, I never heard of a prosecution after.

Typical ignorant nonsense and sympothomatic of the contempt farmers are held in by some of society.

Let them scratch the soil with their bare hands and eek out a living...peasantry..

Average age of tractors in Ireland is 27 years old. 2nd hand tractors are suitable for many jobs, and because they are so scarce, cost multiples of their operational and depresiative value, mainly because of the low level of new tractor purchases.

Our "new tractor" bought new in 2007 has 11,000 hours on the clock. That equates to a car with over 400,000 miles on the clock (600km for those of you with newer cars).

It covers most of our work, but is now no longer realiable enough nor capabale of handeling the new equipment enforced by new regulations.

Do you sneer to the same level at a family buying a new car, a haulage company buying a new truck, a factory buying a new forklift, Ryanair buying a new plane, Irish Rail buying a new locomotive...

No...but you'll belittle and sneer at a farmer who needs to do the same.

Ok brains let’s look at some simple maths

2100 new tractors registered last year. 135000 farms in the country so that 1.5per c ent of farms bought a new tractor.

a tractor nessessary for work.

by comparison let’s look at cars.

100k cars last year. 1.2million households.

So 8 percent of household (which would I close some farmers) bought cars. The **** bastards.

Fully agree. The rural party will be a pure and utter failure if it is nothing more than “IFA” under a different banner.

But it is still not the true cost production. Food rose as farming input, the three F’s, fuel, feed (grain) and fertiliser went through the roof (fertiliser more than doubled as an example). Processing cost rose (labour, energy etc). And food had to rise as there was no way less profit for the supermarket and processors was going to be allowed.

Food is still heavily subsidised though to the uninformed it’s “free money to the farmer”…..it’s really a subsidy to the people to allow affordable food……we are only three meals away from riots at any time.

That’s the way the EU and Ireland have set the system up. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

I hope so.

But I also realise it matters zero to the global scale (but like to see local biodiversity).

1) As global targets are not aligned and there will be massive Agri outputs in other countries like Brazil etc. …..and I don’t blame them……200 years ago the English cleared Ireland for farm land and productivity….Brazil are at that stage now.

2) People need to eat. And farmers will need to farm either way. Pick any packet from fresh to processed and every single raw ingredient is the result of a farmer somewhere.

Things are gone a bit off topic now, as does usually happen when ignorant trolls take over a thread on the farming forum.

I believe you are correct. Farmers will not get recognition for the work they do…….no surprise.

But who cares who get the recognition? We are all after the same end goal right??? **** lol.

While we argue on the Internet big corporations position themselves to ride us sideways 😀