President honours 50 years of the IFA
THE people who founded what is now the Irish Farmers' Association prised open a closed box 50 years ago and let the future in, said President Mary McAleese at the organisation's golden jubilee celebrations at the RDS in Dublin.
President McAleese said the Ireland into which the fledgling National Farmers' Association emerged was very different from that of today: poverty, unemployment, hardship and emigration were prevalent. Life was tough in town and country. For most of the population, the undertaking of mundane tasks involved an effort out of all proportion to what would be required today.
In farming, mechanisation had not yet become commonplace and the running of the family farm was labour-intensive to a degree unimaginable to today's generation. President McAleese said that, at that time, water was still drawn by hand from wells on many farms, and the rural electrification programme had still to reach many areas.
Few farm families owned a car. Much of the work was done by hand, farming was predominantly mixed, and tasks were invariably shared by the adults and children of the farm family.
This was the era of horses, not tractors, of cattle being driven on foot to the mart, of the creamery cans being brought by each farmer to the small local dairy or left at the end of the lane for collection. It was the era of the scythe and of long days of toil, sowing, and reaping, and of gathering in the crops.
President McAleese said the exportation of Irish agricultural produce was essentially confined to our neighbouring island, while the European Economic Community, later to be the European Union, was a far-away entity and the preserve of a few Continental countries.
"Few Irish farmers managed anything which could be called a holiday in the sense that we understand it today. If they did get away for a few days it might be to one of the coastal resort towns or villages, where 'he' and 'herself' might spend a gentle week of tea-rooms and strolls while mustering their resources for another 12 months of sheer hard work," the president said.
Fifty years ago Ireland was barely able to feed its own population. Almost a third of what a farmer produced was consumed by his or her own family.
National milk production was 250m gallons, a volume which could today be matched by a single major co-op.
Ireland imported 5,000 tonnes of butter. Bacon and other products were also imported. Rabbit exports were double those of sheep meat. A typical farmer might produce enough to feed seven people, whereas today productivity is seven or eight times that level.
Amidst the long days, and the toil and demands of the time, those invaluable characteristics which have consistently stood to this country came to the fore: the strength of family; a vibrant neighbourliness; a highly organised and inter-dependent community.
There was also a profound attachment to place and to heritage and a broad set of shared beliefs and values, in which self-sacrifice was dominant for there was a formidable determination to banish the hardships and deprivations which had long characterised rural Ireland by giving succeeding generations a better life.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the sacrifices made by the farming community to educate their children and equip them to build new lives and a new Ireland.
President McAleese said men and women of vision captured the sense of the country and married aspiration with achievement: men and women who helped drive the further social and economic development of Ireland, sometimes against great odds.
It was just such people who founded the National Farmers' Association in Harcourt Street on January 6, 1955. It was their focus and clarity of purpose which laid the solid foundations for what is now the Irish Farmers' Association.
Today the IFA has 85,000 members in 950 branches throughout Ireland. From this democratic base, and with the invaluable involvement of 3,000 elected staff, the support of 60 full-time staff at regional and national levels, and a consistently high-profile national leadership, the organisation is at the heart of developments affecting Irish agriculture and farm families.
"More than that, it is at the heart of Irish political, civic and cultural life, the well of a deep resource from which the nation draws. Ours is a nation transformed, and yours is an industry and way of life which has changed most dramatically. A once widespread, but undeveloped industry, has given way to a hugely confident, accomplished, diversified and globalised industry run by considerably fewer people," the president said.
President McAleese said the IFA has been the voice of the farming community on that roller coaster journey, campaigning tirelessly on issues which concern its members and their customers at home and abroad. It is an important partner in the national social partnership, which, over the past two decades and more, has been pivotal to Ireland's enviable economic success.
"The deep-rooted links between town and country were showcased at their best during the foot-and-mouth crisis a few years ago, when the towns and cities of Ireland suddenly sprouted disinfectant mats at every entrance to every building a gesture of solidarity and shared responsibility, as well as a recognition of the debt we owe the land for the many blessings it has given us."
President McAleese said the farming industry is at the mercy of so many capricious factors, from weather to consumer confidence, to say nothing of the rapid pace of change, such as developments in the CAP and at World Trade Organisation level.
"The baton has passed to a new generation, the best educated in our history, the first to grow up in an Ireland liberated from the burdens of emigration and high unemployment; a confident generation doing business in every part of the globe and spectacularly revealing the exceptional genius of Ireland in vindication of all those hard years and hard lives," the president said.
"As the Chinese proverb says let those who drink the water remember with gratitude those who dug the well. We do that here today, giving thanks for those whose public-spiritedness and commitment to Ireland's future led to the foundation of this great farming organisation. You would be hard put to find a better example of practical patriotism. To them and to their families, I say, on behalf of all of us, a big 'thank you' and 'well-done'", President McAleese said.
