It has been said that the Government’s acknowledgement that funding was required to address the Brexit crisis for beef farmers “was significant” – but it must be followed by action.

President of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Joe Healy has welcomed the news, revealed by AgriLand, that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has lodged an EU submission for a multi-million euro fund for beef farmers.

Also Read: Department lodges EU submission for multi-million euro fund for beef farmers

Commenting on the news, Healy said: “Between the Irish Government and the EU Commission, an aid package has to be a priority given the scale of the losses that farmers have borne from Brexit, particularly in the last six months.

Anybody who was in Cork for our protest would have seen the anger and frustration among farmers.

Close to 1,000 members of the IFA from across the country protested outside City Hall in Cork yesterday, Wednesday, May 1, in opposition to the Government’s “lack of action” to protect the beef sector from Brexit.

More than a dozen tractors and an Aberdeen Angus bull were on the street in the city centre, which was heavily manned by a Garda presence.

Continuing, Healy noted that “there is an urgency about this” and said that he expects the Irish Government and the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, to work together to deliver on this issue “urgently”.

Concluding, Healy said that there was an increasing concern that the EU Commission and the Irish Government were “passing the buck back and forwards” on funding.