Bantry tribute to historic farmers’ rights march

Military precision in the planning behind the historic Farmers’ Rights march of 1966 has been revealed at an IFA 50th commemoration of the event in Bantry, Co Cork.

The 1966 march earned farmers the right to lead collective negotiations with the government.

The march was led by NFA president Rickard Deasy and, at last week’s commemoration, his son Ruadhri revealed how the NFA campaign planners fed false information which left the government ill-prepared to negotiate with 30,000 farmers arriving in Dublin.