The youth organisation of Fine Gael has thrown its support behind the Macra demonstration march to Dublin.
The march departed from Athy, Co. Kildare – where Macra was founded in 1944 – yesterday evening (Tuesday, April 25), and is set to arrive at government buildings in Dublin this afternoon (Wednesday, April 26).
Young Fine Gael (YFG) announced this morning that it stands behind the demonstrators, saying: “Young people have the right to build homes, farms, and futures where they grew up.”
The aim of Macra’s march is to highlight a range of issues for young people – not just farmers – in rural areas, such as social issues like housing and access to healthcare, and agricultural issues including succession and the definition of the ‘family farm’.
President of YFG Eoghan Gallagher said that Fine Gael has worked to support rural Ireland, but that “these successes must not be squandered by avoiding issues such as rural planning, a lack of transport infrastructure, or farm succession schemes”.
“The Macra campaign highlights issues YFG has been and will continue to raise with our senior party colleagues, right up to the party leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar,” Gallagher added.
Sean Martyn, the northwest regional organiser for YFG, who is also a part-time farmer, said: “With recent focus on climate action, it must be noted that Ireland is one of the most efficient producers of food in the world.
“Young farmers are the most likely to invest in climate-friendly technologies and must be adequately supported in doing so,” Martyn added.
Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Martin Heydon, who is a Fine Gael TD for Kildare South, was in Athy yesterday evening to meet some of the 80-odd Macra members that had gathered there.
Speaking to Agriland before the march set off, he said: “I wanted to come to Athy today and engage with the members here and I think it’s really helpful that we’re having this discussion, having these debates.
“Obviously some of the measures they are raising are concerns that I share, others are issues that I feel we are making significant progress on in government, and that I want to work in conjunction with them on,” the minister added.
The purpose of this demonstration, Macra said, is to highlight eight “key issues”.
These issues are:
- Access to affordable housing and “cumbersome” housing planning guidelines;
- “Disjointed and sparce” healthcare services for rural communities;
- The government’s definition of a “family farm”;
- “No recognition or engagement” by government on a farming succession scheme;
- Lack of planning for the future of rural communities;
- Imposition of “quotas” on young farmers availing of grant aid support;
- Lack of public transport for rural Ireland;
- Proposals to rewet large areas of rural Ireland.