IFA chief calls for funds to alleviate income crisis in sheep sector

THE number of sheep shorn in Ireland will continue to decline rapidly unless serious action is taken urgently by the Government to allocate funds to the sector, it was claimed yesterday.

Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Padraig Walshe called on Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to immediately allocate €29 million in unused Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) single payment funds to the sector in the form of a sheep maintenance payment.

“The unused single payment funds must be used to alleviate the income crisis and restore confidence in the sheep sector,” he said.

Mr Walshe also said strong lamb prices through the 2009 season are critical to the financial viability of sheep farmers.

“The future of the sector depends on the factories delivering on price this year, and this means standing up to the supermarkets and resisting downward pressure,” he said.

The IFA leader was speaking at the launch of this year’s Clik All-Ireland and International Sheep Shearing Championships, which will be held in the Grianan Estate, Burt, Co Donegal, on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31.

They are organised by Grianan Sheep Shearing Association and 10,000 visitors are expected to attend.

Over 1,500 sheep will be shorn by 200 shearers in various competitions.

Top shearers from Australia and New Zealand, as well as from Ireland, Britain and elsewhere in Europe will take part. There will also be wool handling competitions.

One of the highlights will be the Five Nations championship when top shearers from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will compete against each other in three-man teams.

Local shearers in Donegal and the Inishowen peninsula will also be catered for with their own “confined” competitions.

Professional shearer, Ivan Scott, from Kilmacrennan, Letterkenny, who recently set the new world record for “single stand” shearing, will also be competing. He sheared 736 Romney strongwool lambs in eight hours last December in New Zealand. In beating the previous record of 731, he became the first overseas shearer to set an individual world record in New Zealand.

Scott is the current Irish Open Champion and he will be defending that title again this year. He will also be attempting to win the international open championship in which he was runner-up last year to Hamish Mitchell, Scotland, who will be in Donegal to defend his title.