The farm in Co. Offaly that was at the centre of an Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) protest this morning has been pulled from auction, Agriland understands.
The website of the auctioneer overseeing the sale of the farm has now listed the site as “withdrawn”, it appears.
This morning, the IFA carried out a protest at the farm in Rhode, which was to be the subject of a “forced sale” by a “vulture fund” later today (Thursday, July 29).
The protest kicked off at 8:00a.m this morning on the farm in question.
According to the IFA, it is opposing the forced sale of the lands in Offaly “by vulture fund Everyday Finance”.
“The vulture fund has refused an offer from the family to pay the debt in full,” the IFA claimed.
Martin Stapleton, chairperson of IFA’s Debt Support Service, said that the IFA had attempted to negotiate with the fund earlier this week on behalf of the family but that the fund “was completely unreasonable”.
“The Conway family put forward a credible proposal to make structured repayments. The vulture fund has refused the offer from the Conway family to pay the debt in full.”
IFA Farm Business Committee chairperson Rose Mary McDonagh said: “On the back of the strong offer made by the Conway family to repay this debt, IFA cannot stand by and allow this forced sale.”
An IFA delegation earlier this year met with the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and the Minister of State for Law Reform James Browne to discuss the ongoing reform of the Personal Insolvency Act.
IFA Farm Business Committee chairperson Rose Mary McDonagh welcomed the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Bill as it removes the requirement for debt to have originated prior to 2015 in order to be considered relevant debt under the Personal Insolvency Act.