Sir, - It is to be hoped that the farming community appreciates the major sacrifices being made on its behalf. The draconian restrictions imposed on other sectors are already resulting in real financial hardship. The total ban on angling, as just one small example, is costing us alone over £10,000 a week and, if not eased within a very short time, will inevitably lead to across-the-board staff lay-offs. (There is, incidentally and quite ironically, no such ban in Britain.)
What then happens to a loyal employee, with, say, a mortgage and three children, whose income is suddenly axed to avoid the bankruptcy of his or her employer? Welfare support, it appears, will be wholly inadequate. And there is not even a whisper of compensation for the non-agricultural sector.
There must be many other hidden traumas resulting from the (wholly understandable) panic of various Ministers. Can we have - and very soon, please - a more measured and thoughtful assessment of how to stop the spread of disease, while avoiding undue suffering and/or providing fair-minded support for innocent victims?
Blanket bans may garner the headlines necessary to ram home the sense of crisis, but in the absence of an actual outbreak of disease, they must be followed in very short order by a realistic case-by-case assessment of risk. Failure to do this will result in disasters every bit as serious as those confronted by farmers and their EU protectors. - Yours, etc.,,
Peter Mantle, Delphi Lodge & Fishery, Leenane, Co Galway.