Over the course of this series, the Irish Farmers Journal has focused on rural and agricultural life across the western seaboard.

The aim is to highlight the intrinsic value of these regions to the Irish economy from an agricultural, tourism and employment point of view. What we have discovered in each area has been vital and Mayo is no different.

Sharon O’Reilly, Martina Jordan, Mairead Lavery and Vera McEvoy at the Wild Atlantic Way event in the Castlecourt Hotel, Westport, Co Mayo.

Adam Woods, Tom Gill, Faolan Flynn, John Joe Joyce and Darren Carty.

Joe Earley, Anthony Jordan, Sharon O’Reilly and Noel Walsh.

Darren Carty, Francis Brennan, Michael Holmes and Declan Conway.

At a listening event last Thursday night in Westport, the feedback from the focus group gave an oversight into major issues in Mayo, including emigration, farm viability, the power of factories, payment penalties, forestry and the future of sheep and suckler farms, both on the hills and in low-lying areas.

This feedback will be vital for the Irish Farmers Journal going forward in highlighting these issues.

This focus supplement aims to shine a light on Mayo, look at its suckler herd, producer groups in west Mayo and life on an island off the coast.