IFA president Tim Cullinan said any increase in designated land will be strongly resisted by farmers. The programme for government has no mention of more designations and the IFA will be holding the Government to account on this.

He said the IFA had commitments from previous ministers for heritage Josepha Madigan and Heather Humphries that there would be no more designations.

“In discussions with the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) over the past two years on a new agreement on designated land, not once has the issue of additional designations been raised with the IFA. Furthermore, any State land purchases by the NPWS to increase national parks will not be accepted,” he said.

IFA hill farming chair Flor McCarthy said the IFA has consistently said where Natura designations are imposed under the EU Habitats or Birds Directives, farmers and landowners must be properly compensated. The IFA is opposed to any suggestion of destocking of sheep in hill areas as it seriously affects the livelihoods of farmers and will lead to economic decline in areas which are already struggling.

“Payment arrangements under locally led or the NPWS scheme are inadequate as they don’t address the fundamental issue of loss of income and the devaluation of land values,” he said.

This year’s Smart Farming Farm Walk is going online. We have an interesting lineup of demonstrations including: