Hundreds of farmers attended a protest in Banagher, Co Offaly, on Friday 4 August to express their anger over the flooding of their lands along the Shannon Callows.

Farmer anger was directed towards the Office of Public Works (OPW), Waterways Ireland and the ESB, who they said are in control of opening sluice gates at Meelick and Lusmagh which relieve water from the Callows when heavy rain falls.

However, farmers claim that action wasn't taken quickly enough by the relevant authorities, with significant amounts of fodder and grazing ground now lost as a result.

Several farmers, particularly those in ACRES, have not cut any hay or silage yet and it is estimated that upwards of 20,000 bales will be lost due to the flooding.

James Nevin, Michael Silke and John Ryan all have land currently under water. \ Odhran Ducie

A number of farmers at the protest spoke about the impact the flooding is having on their farming operations, with issues varying from loss of fodder to loss of biodiversity.

Banagher farmer Michael Silke is farming the callows and says that the most harrowing part is that it was "to a large extent preventable".

He usually gets 600 bales from the callows. However, this year he says he will get none.

"I don't know where I'm going to get alternative fodder. There's thousands and thousands of acres of land in the same boat.

"If we we go back to 15 July, I was out on the Shannon in the boat because I have land on an island in the Shannon and I was herding the cattle. I knew by the levels of water that it had risen significantly.

"I came back and I went across to Lusmagh and there was only a little over half of the gates open in Lusmagh. I went down to Meelick and there was only a little over half the gates open in Meelick," Silke said.

He argued that the flooded lands are as a result of the inaction of Waterways Ireland, the OPW and the ESB.

"They have no responsibility towards any farmer or any household. Farmers are suffering and suffering badly.

"No farmer put their cattle into the callows before the first week of June because the callows were flooded all the spring and now they're [the cattle] gone off it again," he added.

Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan attended the protest and told the Irish Farmers Journal that this is an event that has happened on "numerous occasions in the past".

IFA president Tim Cullinan speaking at the protest. \ Odhran Ducie

He said that there needs to be a rapid alert system when there's a lot of rain falling, so that the gateways are opened to relieve the water so that it can move down the river.

"We need all the agencies coming together, we need the OPW, Waterways Ireland and the ESB and we need action," he said.

He called on Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue to come up with some sort of compensation for the callows farmers in the short term.

"The lack of action taken by the management authorities of the River Shannon is not acceptable. The damage done by the flooding is vast and now thousands of acres of silage and hay are destroyed and unsalvageable,” Cullinan said.