No Christmas cheque for some from Ireland’s SFP

IT’S been an historic week in Irish farming, as EU Single Payment cheques dropped through the letterboxes of 80,000 farm homes. For the first time, direct aid, financed by the EU, was paid to farmers independent of production.

For a small number of farmers, receiving between €3,000 and €10,000 per week, it’s a bonanza.

For the vast majority, who received less than €100 per week, it is small compensation for product price cuts, and is unlikely to dramatically change their lives.