A protest is to be held on the lands of a farm which is to be the subject of a “forced sale” by a “vulture fund” later today (Thursday, July 29), the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has confirmed.

The protest will kick off at 8:00a.m this morning on the farm in question, which is situated in Rhode, Co. Offaly.

According to the IFA, it is opposing the forced sale of the lands in Offaly “by vulture fund Everyday Finance”, which is scheduled to take place in an online auction later today.

“The vulture fund has refused an offer from the family to pay the debt in full,” the IFA says.

Martin Stapleton, chairman 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,” he said.

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.”

On the topic of forced sales and “vulture funds”, back in March, the IFA called for debt secured by farmland to be considered relevant debt under personal insolvency legislation – which it says is vital in “rebalancing the relationship” between borrowers and “vulture funds”.

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.