The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) has said that the next Taoiseach must be willing to listen to the concerns of farmers.
Sean McNamara’s comments come as Leo Varadkar today (Wednesday, March 20) announced that he is stepping down as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael for “personal and political” reasons.
In a surprise address from government buildings, Varadkar said that a new Fine Gael leader will be elected in advance of the party’s Ard Fheis on Saturday, April 6, allowing a new Taoiseach to be elected when the Dáil resumes after the Easter break.
Taoiseach
The ICSA president told Agriland that he was “shocked” to hear that Leo Varadkar was stepping down as Taoiseach.
“I wish him the best of luck, but those of us in ICSA are prepared to work with any new Taoiseach that comes our way,” McNamara said.
When it comes to Leo Varadkar’s interaction with farmers during his time as Taoiseach, the ICSA president did not give him a great rating.
“We asked to meet him several times in ICSA and he didn’t meet us. I just didn’t think he knew anything about what farmers are going through or what hardship farmers are going through.
“It was a matter of telling farmers what to do and that was it,” he said.
ICSA
McNamara believes it is doubtful that today’s announcement could lead to a general election, but did not rule out the possibility entirely.
However, the ICSA president was clear about what he believes farmers want from the next leader of the country.
“The way I would look at it, we want a Taoiseach that’s prepared to see beyond the M50.
“There’s serious things happening in farming at the moment with climate change and everything,” he said.
McNamara said that there is a “serious amount of mental illness” among farmers at the moment as they face multiple pressures, including poor weather.
“We want to get a Taoiseach in that’s is ready to give farmers a little bit of leeway and to make things work with farm organisations,” he said.
The ICSA president also voiced huge concerns as the government prepares to introduce a series of increases in the excise duty for petrol and diesel starting in April.
He said that this will impact people living in rural Ireland more acutely as many rely on their own transport to go to work.