Sligo
EU proposals to reform the Common Agricultural Policy would lead to 800 job losses in farming in Co Sligo and a loss of farm income of some £4 million, protesters in Sligo were told, writes Theresa Judge, North-West Correspondent.
In a smaller than expected turnout, about 50 farmers, led by local IFA leaders, walked through the town at lunchtime, followed by a convoy of 10 tractors. Leaflets were distributed giving details of the likely effect on the local economy of the proposed CAP reforms.
The IFA estimates that the loss to the Co Sligo economy would amount to £10 million and that 300 jobs would be lost in sectors dependent on agriculture.
The chairman of the IFA in Co Sligo, Mr Joe Coulter, said that if the Government did not act quickly there would not be another generation of farmers in the west of Ireland. "The Government has got to get more money from Europe", he said.
Cork
Farm protests in Cork centred on three areas - Cork city, Mallow and Clonakilty, home town of the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, writes Dick Hogan, Southern Correspondent.
Mr Donal Kelly, the IFA chairman for west Cork, estimated the turnout in Clonakilty at 500. A long line of farm vehicles joined in the protest but, as in other Cork centres, a well-rehearsed Garda plan kept traffic flowing.
The farmers made a point of passing Mr Walsh's home. Mr Kelly said that the CAP reform negotiations would alter the lifestyles of Irish farmers in a way never envisaged when the policy was first mooted.
In Cork city, the protesters gathered in the western suburbs at noon and made their way to the city-centre. An estimated 200 farm vehicles joined the protest and about 400 people turned out.
IFA members who mingled with shoppers in the city handed out leaflets explaining that, while a consumer paid £3.99 for a pound of sirloin steak, the farmer's share was only £1.83.
The third Cork protest was in Mallow, with at least 400 farmers and as many as 30 tractors taking part.
Longford
In Longford a sad link with past farmers' protests was made when the planned gathering was delayed by 30 minutes to allow a funeral to pass through the town.
"We delayed out of respect for the late Kevin Ireland from Killashee", Mr Ciaran O'Hanlon, county chairman of Longford IFA, said. "He was one of a dozen Longford farmers who walked to Dublin in October 1966 to protest at the collapse of cattle prices."
About 40 farmers marched, followed by 25 tractors and some commercial vehicles. There were few shows of support from the hundreds of onlookers as the march passed through the streets, stewarded by gardai.
In the shopping centre car park farmers gathered to hear Mr O'Hanlon say that "taking the income off farmers is taking the income from Longford". He said that Ireland and Longford were "witnessing a revolution, not a bloody revolution, but a tearful revolution", which could see the number of farms in the county (about 3,000) halved in a few years.
Tullamore
About 500 farmers from all over Offaly marched through the centre of Tullamore to gather at Golden Vale Marts, where the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, accused the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, of trying to put farmers "out of business".
Mr James Kane, chairman of the IFA, estimated that the Agenda 2000 proposals would result in an income loss to Offaly farmers of £7 million and a loss to the county's economy of £15 million. More than 1,200 farm jobs and 504 other jobs would be lost.
Support for the farmers' cause was expressed by Mr Donal Hackett, president of Tullamore and District Chamber of Commerce, who said local business people realised the importance of agriculture to the town's economy.
Galway
Five hundred farmers, backed up by about 70 tractors, JCBs, jeeps and other agricultural machines, marched in Galway. The farmers, from all over the county, marched to Eyre Square for a midday rally.
They were told by the county IFA chairman, Mr John Mannion, that their protest was being held in the EU's most westerly city.
"If this region is to prosper in the next millennium, a prosperous and vital farming community is needed. The message we want to send to the EU and to Franz Fischler is that we can do that if we are let. We have the know-how, the environment and the quality produce. For consumers listening today, we dismiss implants and genetically-modified food", he added.
Banners and trailers and jeeps in the protest reinforced these messages. One banner compared the price farmers get for a pint of milk - 14p - with that paid by the consumer - 36p.
The Galway farmers were determined to get their message across, but were keen not to cause too much disruption. "We could have rallied three times as many marchers, but we didn't want to cause trouble between urban and rural dwellers", said the IFA's local regional development officer, Mr Roy O'Brien.
Limerick
"Fischler's Vision Of Ireland" was the slogan mounted on a donkey-and-cart belonging to Mr Tommy Conway, of Clarina, which was positioned between two huge 180 h.p. tractors in the Co Limerick farmers' parade.
Only about 200 of the 4,000 IFA members in Co Limerick took part in the parade, which the county chairman, Mr Richard Kennedy, said was planned to get through the city smoothly and with as little disruption as possible.
Mr Hugh Walker (74), who farms 100 acres at Ballinamona, Hospital, said: "The object of the demonstration is not to highlight the disasters of the cattle prices and the fodder shortage, but to give our EU negotiators support so that they can try to prevent the disastrous cuts proposed under Agenda 2000."
Mr Robert O'Dea, chairman of the Kilteely branch of IFA, said that young men were not getting into farming today. "If we can get labour, we now have to pay £7.55 an hour or £60 a day, whereas two years ago it was £38 a day."
Donegal
Over 250 farmers, representing 28 IFA branches in Donegal, marched through Letterkenny at the head of a convoy of tractors and jeeps. Despite the bad weather, local IFA officers expressed satisfaction with the turnout.
The IFA's county development officer, Mr Michael McHugh, said that the implications of the Agenda 2000 proposals were particularly severe for a county like Donegal, which was so dependent on agriculture. Donegal has over 5,000 full-time and 5,000 part-time farmers.
He claimed that farmers' incomes in the county would drop by almost £6 million if the CAP reforms went through and estimated that the real loss to the economy of Donegal would be over £13 million a year.
The IFA has claimed that over 1,100 farm jobs could be on the line in the county.
Dungarvan
Between 500 and 600 Co Waterford farmers demonstrated in Dungarvan, seriously disrupting traffic in the centre of the town. Local business interests voiced their support for the action and many townspeople applauded the cavalcade as it made its way into Grattan Square.
Several agriculture-related companies took part in a show of solidarity with the farmers.
The Waterford IFA chairman, Mr James Coughlan, said that if the CAP reform proposals went through they would have a devastating effect on farmers throughout the State. In Co Waterford, £23 million would be taken out of the rural economy and incomes for the county's farmers would drop by £10 million annually.
Reports compiled by local correspondents around the State.