As he took to the stage on Monday afternoon, IFA president Eddie Downey must have wondered to himself was this really happening.

With all the positivity that abounded in Irish agriculture in the lead up to the abolition of milk quotas in April, here he was at the doors of the European Commission offices in Dublin protesting against an income crisis.

Standing before more than 2,000 farmers, the national media, three pigs, a dairy cow and a pile of grain tipped in the middle of Dublin’s Lower Mount Street, Downey began his speech by saying how “unfortunate” it was they had to be there. How unfortunate is right.

Aside from those from Kilkenny, who are well used to trips to the capital in early September, no farmer wishes to spend their day on the streets of Dublin during such a busy time on farms.

However, with prices for dairy, grain and pork under severe pressure, cashflow on many Irish farms has become extremely challenged, forcing farmers out onto the streets to make their voices heard in Brussels.

Descended

Arriving in their droves from across the country, farmers descended on Dublin on Monday morning. Fittingly, the crowds gathered outside the offices of Bord Bia, to enjoy some refreshments in the pleasant morning air before the demonstration got underway in earnest.

John Murphy from Newcastle, Co Dublin, even brought his Holstein cow, Baldonnel Silvia, along for the day.

She was the star of the show as she led the march down Mount Street, while a scrum of photographers and cameramen jostled for position to get a picture of her.

But farmers were here to demand action. Arriving at the door of the European Commission offices, the finest of grain flowed down the street.

“There’s no income left in it, so we might as well dump it,” said IFA Grain Committee chair Liam Dunne.

Eddie Downey and the IFA front bench then took to the erected stage to address the crowd.

Downey said that European foreign policy had led to the closure of the Russian market, creating an oversupply of dairy and pork products in an already saturated EU market, which in turn has forced prices downward.

Chair of the IFA Dairy Committee Sean O’Leary said margins for dairy farmers have fallen by 92% over the last 16 months, and called on Commissioner Hogan to increase the price of intervention and use the €800m collected in superlevy fines to support dairy farmers.

Pat O’Flaherty, chair of the IFA Pig Committee, said that Russia formerly accounted for 25% of all EU pork exports and it was critical to get the market reopened.

EU action

Wrapping up the protest, Downey and his team delivered a letter by hand to the head of the European Commission in Ireland, Barbara Nolan, calling for EU action to tackle falling farm incomes. No need to ring the doorbell. It’s safe to say she knew the farmers were outside.

It was their first day in the new offices, following relocation to Lower Mount Street from Dawson Street. It was good of the IFA to organise such a large housewarming for them.