A new social outlet for farmers - the Farmers' Haggart - is proving to be a great success, according to programme co-ordinator Brendan Mulry.

The Farmers' Haggart initiative is part of Irish Rural Link’s farm safety community champions programme, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

To date, eight farmers' haggarts have been established in counties Galway, Kildare, Mayo, Monaghan, Tipperary, Waterford, and Wexford.

Communities have shown keen interest and strong uptake, Mulry told Agriland.

"Farming in recent years, as a way of life as much as an industry, has become much less social," he said.

"Farmers no longer welcome their neighbours and friends into their haggart or farmyard for a chat or cup of tea as often as they used to."

The time of the ‘great neighbour’ is not quite what it once was, Mulry contended.

"Isolation is an ever-growing problem for farmers, something Irish Rural Link is only too aware of from its wider work in sustainable rural development.

"This initiative suggests that the best of change brings the best of the past along with it," he said.

Farmer's Haggart

The Farmer’s Haggart is envisaged as a practical, easy-to-implement intervention that any farming community can make.

The initiative provides a new informal community network for farmers to come together as a local group on a semi-regular basis.

With a little organisation, it also provides an opportunity to invite guest speakers to address the group and to arrange day trips and outings to shows and other events of interest.

The programme encourages a modest return to shared work practices and an uptick in day-to-day co-operation between neighbouring farmers, practices which will be very familiar to older farmers.

It is hoped that a return to these more traditional farming customs and neighbourly practices may also, in time, yield opportunities for individual farmers to take some time away from their farm, knowing that the enterprise is under the safe, watchful eye of a neighbour or friends.

Seamus Boland, CEO of Irish Rural Link, and recently elected 35th president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), said as a farmer and as an executive, he is delighted but not surprised by the success of the initiative.

He said: "In farming in Ireland, as in Europe, changes are needed to meet the needs of the future.

"The Farmer’s Haggart shows the enduring importance of connection and community to the farming way of life."

Working with local rural community organisations such as resource centres and community centres, Irish Rural Link’s team of farm safety community champions has introduced the initiative in local communities across Ireland.

Brendan Mulry added: "As more groups are established, Irish Rural Link is very happy to help in any way we can.

We’re particularly encouraged by the very strong interest of local community organisations and the enthusiastic support shown by other rural stakeholders such as Muintir na Tíre and the IFA.”

More information on the Farmer’s Haggart is available from Brendan Mulry, Irish Rural Link, at 087 2194243, or by email: [email protected]