Irish farmers are split three ways when it comes to evaluating Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue’s performance.

Thirty percent of farmers polled in our survey rate his performance as good or very good, while 31% see him as having performed poorly or very poorly. The single biggest grouping, 39%, is indifferent about his performance. Only one in eight farmers have an extreme view either way, with 4% rating him as ‘very good’ and 8% rating him as ‘very poor’.

It represents an improvement over the last survey undertaken in June, with a 9% increase in the positive ratings, and a 12% decrease in his negative rating.

There is little difference in how the various farming sectors view McConalogue’s tenure, with beef farmers slightly more positive and tillage farmers a little less enamoured with the Donegal man.