Five decades of memories - May 2024

3 Next month, the local and EU elections take place. In June 1997, there was a general election, reflected by the issue’s front cover in May of that year, and continued inside with a focus on what the four main parties of the day would do for Irish farming if elected to Government. We spoke to the sitting agriculture minister at that time, Ivan Yates, a Fine Gael TD; Joe Walsh, Fianna Fáil’s agriculture spokesperson; Senator John Dardis, Progressive Democrats’ agriculture spokesperson; and Senator Jim Townsend, Labour’s agriculture spokesperson. The questions related to action that the parties would take to increase beef prices; what the policy was on milk quotas for the future; if they would restore the junior ministry for food; when computerisation of cattle movements would be introduced; and, simply, what each of these men would prioritise if they became the new agriculture minister.

3The Monthly certainly got that call right. FBD Insurance remains in the vice-like grip of its farmer shareholders. Investors have come and gone but majority ownership and control remain firmly in farmers’ hands through their proxies, Farmer Business Developments Plc and FBD Trust. Long may that remain the case. Farmer Business Developments has taken on the hotels, foreign land and leisure assets of FBD Insurance, allowing it to concentrate on its core insurance business. Reserves are strong, profits are healthy, and FBD Insurance pays an impressive annual dividend to its shareholders

3 In 2008, we asked the question: Can Irish agriculture slash greenhouse gas emissions and meet the 2020 challenge of a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 20 per cent? In the article, Donal Nugent wrote, that ‘Ireland is unusual among EU countries in that the agricultural sector is a major contributor to its overall GHG output, representing some 27.7 per cent of total emissions.’ This is still true for the sector but that percentage is well into the 30s now! Meanwhile, Trevor Sargent who was the then Minister for Food is quoted in the article saying: “It would be counterproductive if a crude reduction in emissions simply had the impact of relocating agricultural production to a less efficient Third world country.” Sixteen years later and this all still sounds very familiar!

5You can hardly find a nightclub these days, so many have closed in recent years. Back in 1997, it was the ballrooms and showbands that were lamented in this article. Many people, according to this, believed that nightclubs were not conducive to meeting people, instead preferring the ballrooms and dancehalls where real bands played real music. ICMSA county chair, at that time, Muredach McAndrew believed that the ‘ballrooms of romance’ (a reference to a William Trevor short story) should be re-established. He called on wealthy Mayo exiles to ‘make money available towards the building of these halls’. He said he was concerned that ‘young men were being left on farms while the girls (unhappily) went to Dublin for education and work’. Imagine these ‘girls’ moving away in search of better jobs, payments, and prospects!

3 In 2008, Matt O’Keeffe wrote about ‘subsidy addiction’ among Irish farmers. “It is unlikely that the industry could function at this stage without recourse to a huge range of subsidies.” Referring to the many reforms of the subsidy system, he talked about the most recent of them, the Single Farm Payment which in other countries was linked to production. “Ireland, almost uniquely among European countries allows payment without any production requirements,” wrote Matt. “The land has to be kept in good environmental order, a task that in itself costs money but there is no onus on the farmer to actually produce anything.”
This was also the year that all Single Farm Payment recipient names were made public, something that farmers would not welcome, he said. He added: “The publication relates only to the Single Farm Payment. Perhaps it is just as well that it will not include other farm-related payments such as the Suckler Welfare Scheme, REPS, grant aid under the FWM or FI schemes, forestry grants, or the Farm Assist Scheme to name but a few.”

3 Fluke and worms were praying for mercy back in 2000 but Novartis had some bad news for them with this hilarious advert!