“This is the start of our campaign... every county and every politician will be engaged.”

IFA president Joe Healy laid down the marker to a crowd of over 300 in the Bush Hotel, Carrick-on-Shannon.

Healy said that ANC funding needs to be back up to the level it was at before cuts were imposed on the scheme (then called the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme) in 2008. Healy added that both he and the IFA wants ANC funding to be increased to €250m.

What is disadvantaged area land?

There is a requirement for all EU countries to have a review of their disadvantaged areas done by the end of 2017. The review has been on the cards since 2003 when the European Court of Auditors requested it but it has not been carried out until now.

How a farmer’s land is classed as disadvantaged is based on soil type, sloping, soil composition and rainfall as well as other factors.

IFA Connacht chair Padraic Joyce chaired the meeting and said “no farmer (currently) within an ANC area should be kicked out” as part of the review.

As is the norm at meetings of such importance, the politician count was high.

As well as top table speakers, Marian Harkin, Matt Carthy and Mairead McGuiness, all MEPs, Senator Maura Hopkins and local farmer and TD Michael Fitzmaurice all pledged their support to the campaign.

The Department of Agriculture in Ireland is expected to publish draft maps next spring of what it thinks the review should look like. It is then the “real lobbying and work will begin” Joyce said. Until then, the IFA will roll out further meetings putting the pressure on TDs and the Department.

A full and detailed report from the meeting will be in next week’s Irish Farmers Journal

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