Achill farmers meet minister on financial loss due to commonage fires
A DELEGATION of Achill Island farmers have met the Minister for Agriculture after they had farm payments withheld over fires on commonage which they didn't cause.
Mayo IFA hill chairman Pat Chambers arranged the urgent meeting which saw a delegation of Achill Island farmers, including Sean Corrigan, John Lee and Dominic Veasey, travelling to Donegal to meet with Minister Charlie McConalogue.
Farmers' commonage lands were burnt across the Achill Parish and into private holdings, with the subsequent non payment of agriculture scheme monies on these burnt areas.
Commonage fire outbreaks are a problem during dry weather on the island and the burnings have had implications on many local farmers, with tens of thousands of euros in payments cuts across several commonages in the parish.
A statement on behalf of the farmers set out: “Many local farmers see that it is unfair, that they are currently being penalised for something that they have not caused on their commonages and are not to blame for environmental damage that fire causes to their own lands.
“Achill Island is a very popular destination for visitors who use the Wild Atlantic Way, the Great Western Greenway, hill walking, and the influx of visitors due to films, including The Banshee of Inisherin, that farmers and everyone locally welcomes. However, this influx, with some farmers it is felt, may be an influencing factor."
Another meeting with Department of Agriculture officials will be taking place in the coming weeks to further discuss the issue and to gain a resolution.
Mayo IFA, in a statement, said payments of the revised Basic Payments and the ANC to Achill Island and also farmers on Inishboffin island were highlighted at the meeting, with a commitment given by the minister to have his officials solve all problems before the next payment run on December 1.
Local planner in the Achill region, John Lee, who has lived and worked in the area for years, said farmers would be the last people to cause burning. It was not in their interest to do such a thing when they had invested in fencing and environmental actions down through the years.
Pat Chambers said 46 letters had been issued to farmers on the Mission estate where they were penalised for overclaiming nett areas. This, he said, was completely out of order as the same farmers had applied for the same areas in previous years.
Mr. Lee also said that the delay in these payments was having a severe financial impact on the farmers in question as they have several bills to pay between bank loans, contractors veterinary animal feed bills.
The same issues also arose with farmers on Inishboffin where the new planner scoring for ACRES and BISS was not compatible with the department's own Geo Tag satellite system and payments are also being held up on the island.