The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) will hold four regional rallies on Friday 8 October in order “to highlight how the current Government is pursuing policies that will decimate Ireland's largest indigenous sector,” it has said.

The rallies in Cavan, Roscommon, Portlaoise and Cork will be led by IFA president Tim Cullinan and the locations signify the scale of the sector across the rural economy.

"For the last two years, [the] IFA has tried to engage with Government on the sector's future,” Cullinan said.

“Despite this, it continues to treat us as low-hanging fruit that it can target without impunity.

"At the same time, it’s rolling out the red carpet for energy-guzzling multinationals and allowing food, peat and timber to be imported from less-efficient countries in Europe and further afield.

“[The] IFA will not allow farmers to be sacrificial lambs so the Government can give the appearance of ‘doing the right thing’,” he said.

Sounding an alarm

Cullinan said the IFA is “sounding an alarm”.

“Without proper negotiation with farmers and a coherent plan, farming and food production will be unrecognisable.

“We want the Government to get serious and sit down to develop a workable farm-level plan,” he said.

Further details on the rallies will be released on Wednesday.