Farming continues to be the most dangerous occupation in Ireland

Summer is a busy time on farms across Ireland, but it’s also a dangerous and sometimes fatal season for adults and children, reports Ray Ryan, who looks at what is being done to improve safety

SUMMER can be a time of great joy in the countryside with children on school holidays, sunny weather lifting the spirits of young and old and farmers busy with silage and other work.

But it can also quickly turn into a time of tragedy, suffering and upheaval due to farm accidents involving machinery, livestock and other work place activities.