Even though I travel the motorways a lot, I don’t have an electronic tag to get me through the barriers. It’s never been a problem because on the N7 and N8 there’s always been a teller to take my €2 and give me back the 10c change.

However, on Monday evening I was on the N6 heading to Galway when I came across my first unmanned toll. I queued up behind a lorry but there was no budge from it. After a few minutes, the loudspeakers came on and a voice from somewhere kept asking did he want help. Still no budge. In the meantime, a queue had developed behind me so I was stuck. Then a woman appeared from the nearby building and got the lorry through the barricade.

It was my turn next. Try as I might, I could not reach the basket to put my money in. Unlike the N7 where the change basket protrudes out from the structure, the change basket on the N6 is embedded. Honestly, you’d need arms as long as a gorilla to reach it. I had to turn off the engine, take off my seat belt and get out of the car to pay up. Wouldn’t you know I had the car wedged right up against the kerb so the door couldn’t open. There was nothing for it but to get up on the seat, lean out and drop my money into the basket. Lesson learned. The next day I signed up for an electronic tag.

I was down in Galway to take part in a forum on rural development at NUIG. It had been a lovely bright day on the east coast so I was still getting value out of my summer wardrobe. Not to mention the peep-toe sandals. The weather stayed bright and dry until near the turnoff for Ballinasloe when the heavens opened. And it stayed raining heavily all the way to Galway, all the way through our two-hour meeting and all the way back to the Ballinasloe exit. Then, as if by a miracle, the rain abruptly stopped and the road was dry back to Dublin.

Nobody on the western seaboard needs me to tell them it’s been a wet summer. Living in west Limerick, I’m well aware of how little dry weather there’s been. One farmer near us has his cows in and he told me that every bite of grass was now costing him five because of poaching. It’s a sorry outlook and one that needs immediate attention from the powers that be.

Interestingly at the forum on rural development, the issue of who will be the next generation of farmers and what they will need to make a living was a major point of discussion. Many of the young people were from farming backgrounds and some said their parents were actively encouraging them away from the land and the rural areas in which they lived.

Uncertainty regarding farming incomes, lack of high-speed broadband and poor planning all came up for discussion. Interestingly, the issue of isolation and whether or not there should be a tolerance level for people taking a pint or two and driving home provoked the most debate.

Finally, a reminder that the Women & Agriculture conference takes place in the Radisson Hotel, Rosses Point, Co Sligo, on Thursday 27 October. Booking details are on page 15 and I look forward to meeting you there. CL