Members of Macra have begun to make their way from Athy, Co. Kildare, to Dublin this evening (Tuesday, April 25) for a 79km walk that is set take some 16 hours.
The Macra members are planning to arrive at government buildings early tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday, April 26).
The overarching purpose of the demonstration is to highlight a range of challenges for young farmers, and in rural Ireland generally.
Speaking to Agriland in Athy – where Macra was founded in 1944 – before this evening’s march, the association’s incoming president Elaine Houlihan said: “The main aim of this is to raise awareness on our eight issues, and get the government actively engaging with us.
“We want to stay in rural Ireland. [The government] needs to realise that we want to stay, we don’t want to emigrate,” she 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.
The young farmers association has written to all TDs and senators asking them to join Macra on the walk, or to meet them at government buildings at approximately 1:00p.m tomorrow.
Houlihan said that Macra is hoping to actively engage with TDs and senators that come out to meet its members in Dublin tomorrow.
Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Martin Heydon, who is a local TD, was in Athy this evening to meet some of the 80-odd Macra members that had gathered there.
Speaking to Agriland, 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.
Minister Heydon acknowledged that there are some government policies that are “frustrating people”, but highlighted the requirement under EU and international law to address issues like climate change.
Outgoing Macra president John Keane told Agriland: “We’re coming armed with solutions.
“We want an increase in investment in our healthcare services in rural areas; an increased number of GPs; improved access to public transport; and we want that number of 6% of active farmers under the age of 35 improved. We need investment in that.”
Keane added: “We need active investment as opposed to investment in exit schemes or reduction measures.”
Macra will deliver its proposed solutions to these issues to the offices of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste tomorrow.
The Macra president said: “0ur members are frustrated. A lot are very worried about their futures. They’d like security, they’d like certainty and they’d like engagement.”