Green Party Cllr. Mark Hackett has criticised farmer protests in Ireland pushing for fewer regulations and raised concerns that this approach may lead farmers in the “wrong direction”.
In advance of a monthly meeting of Offaly County Council, Cllr. Hackett said, he spoke with farmers who were part of an Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) presence outside the council.
Offaly IFA held a protest outside the county council in Tullamore last week as part of its “Enough is Enough” campaign to highlight the frustration felt by farmers across the country.
“I spent some time speaking with farmers outside [Offaly County Council] in Tullamore. What the farmers said that day was similar to what I regularly hear: ‘Farming is too regulated’,” he said.
Cllr. Hackett
“The protests are not going to mean less regulations,” said Cllr. Hackett, who is an organic beef and sheep farmer and sees a regulation as “nothing more than being asked to do a task,” told Agriland.
“The way I look at it is, I sign up for an environmental scheme as a farmer here and they pay me a decent amount of money and I do the job I am asked. There’s no problem with that,” he added.
“I believe asking basically for the public to say ‘let farmers get away without doing regulations’ is a wrong thing to do. I think it’s a bad move and I think it’s poor leadership by the IFA,” he said.
The organic beef and sheep farmer said that, while the agricultural sector is “very regulated”, farmers need to adhere to these regulations for which they are “well-rewarded”.
Cllr. Hackett said that he sees the payments he receives as a farmer from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) as a “privilege”.
He said he believes that the majority of farmers are “very conscious” of the need to protect nature and “try their best, but in every business, there is room for improvement”.
He said the push for fewer regulations is “short sighted”. “We failed the test on water quality and now we risk losing the derogation altogether in 2026 if we don’t take this issue very seriously.
“The farmers I spoke with blamed this on the test itself and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the EU, the government and, of course, the favourite of all scapegoats, the Green Party.
“It’s common sense that the more tests we fail, the more regulation we can expect to face. No protest can change this, but our individual actions on our farms certainly can,” he said.
Cllr. Hackett further said that “it’s time for the IFA to stop looking for others to blame” and that the IFA “would do better supporting improvements in how farmers do business”.
He also raised concerns that “negative” commentary against Brussels and the Green Party and the push for fewer regulations is “bringing farmers down a cul-de-sac”.
“[Farmers] are going to have to turn around in five years’ time and come back out of it [cul-de-sac] because it’s bringing them nowhere, only the wrong direction,” Cllr. Hackett told Agriland.
He said he supports the suggestion of one of his councillor colleagues that the council invites Offaly IFA to address its next meeting for “open and purposeful engagement”.
Offaly IFA
Responding to the comments made by Cllr. Hackett, the chair of Offaly IFA, Pat Walsh said that farmers in Ireland and in Europe have been “bombarded with regulation without negotiation”.
Speaking to Agriland, the Offaly chair said: “IFA are only doing what they do to try and protect the livelihood of farmers in Co. Offaly and in the rest of the country.
“We’re entitled to make a living and we’re entitled to hold on to our family farms and not be regulated out of existence.”
“Because at the end of the day, take one look round about the world, it’s essential that food security is of essence and importance,” Walsh said.
He added that Irish farmers “have no difficulty” implementing regulations provided they are “sensible”, have scientific background and, “most importantly”, are discussed beforehand.
“That’s all we ask, and that’s all we expect,” Walsh said and added that, in light of recent protest action, “the fight for the farmers of Ireland is only beginning”.
“I think the farmers of Ireland are doing everything that’s expected of them to improve water quality. Water quality is improving and it’s nothing that will happen overnight,” he said.
The IFA Offaly chair added that there are “a lot of other things” influencing the quality of water in the country which are unrelated to farming, and stressed that these must also be addressed.
“But, water quality is something that needs to be improved and it will be improved, but as we stand in Europe, we are not in a bad position,” according to the IFA Offaly chair.