Paula Hynes: We are all paying the price for a war we didn't want
My best advice to consumers is not to panic and shop around for the cheapest fuel prices.
With Easter looming, we will be down a team member for a few weeks as Becky is off to the Southern Hemisphere again, where she will be showing for two farms at a number of shows.
The trip was planned prior to the conflict in the Middle East breaking out. She flies to Dubai and onwards to Melbourne, where she goes straight from the airport to compete at a two-day Jersey fair.
She then heads back to Flemings to help with final preparations before the long journey to Sydney for the Royal Sydney show, where she will be based for just over 10 days ahead of flying home from Sydney via Dubai.
There has been a bit of chopping and changing with flights due to the conflict. Emirates contacted her 10 days ago and changed her onto a different flight departing from Dublin due to fewer flights being available.
She was due to fly home with Etihad, however, they contacted her this week to say her flight was cancelled and they were issuing a refund, but luckily she managed to get a return flight straight away with Emirates at a lower price.
It is easy to see why Emirates is one of the very best airlines in the world. They are making every effort to return to normality and accommodate passengers as best they can. They really seem to be the only airline to travel with on that route at the moment.
Becky isn’t phased by the trip, given the current situation, she feels the world cannot come to a standstill because of the chaos being caused by Israel, the US and Iran.
It is a huge opportunity for Becky to compete at the Royal Sydney Show with two great farms and a top-tier string of show animals. Of course, we as parents are a little nervous and will be relieved when she lands in Australia and again when her flight is en route home to Dublin.
I think we all need to be realistic in that airlines are taking no unnecessary risks, and if there are issues, then it is simply a schedule disruption.
I do believe it is crucial to only source news surrounding the Middle East conflict from credible news sources and also ensure flight information and travel updates are directly from the airline. Social media is awash with fake news, fake photos and the propaganda machine surrounding this war has really ramped up.
Nobody wanted this war in the Middle East, yet we are all getting sucked into it and paying the price. I am no fan of Iran as they do fund terrorism and are led by a dictatorship, but I do think the US and Israel totally miscalculated the Iranians.
Who knows where this will end, but ultimately they all need to make an effort to sit down and talk, yes any peace talks earlier in the year were not making great progress, but neither is this war.
There are talks of the possibility of US troops on the ground, but that will only prolong the conflict and further add to the loss of lives.
We all see the impacts this is having on energy prices for the consumer, and there is a huge amount of price gouging by fuel suppliers.
There can be a 30 cent-a-litre price difference between petrol stations, and my best advice to consumers is not to panic and shop around.
Irish electricity suppliers are also talking about dramatic increases, but given we already have the most expensive electricity in Europe, the government needs to act and ensure electricity is capped.
When it suits the agenda, figures are promoted on how much renewable electricity is being generated by Ireland.
I recently saw a figure of 45% renewable and let's be honest, the cost of Irish sunshine and wind has not spiralled since the war began.
The consumer is getting decimated by energy prices; agriculture has the same issue while also facing huge issues with the spiralling cost of fertiliser which is directly linked to LNG prices and supply.
The Middle East produces 20% of the world's fertiliser, and the knock-on effect of price and shortages is going to have a huge impact on the price of food going forward.
One thing that this conflict in the Middle East has highlighted is how ridiculous it is to be asking us all to reduce our emissions when over five million tonnes of CO has been created by missile strikes and war planes in such a short space of time.
One can only imagine the emissions also created by the war in Ukraine and the Israeli conflict in Gaza.
How in all honesty does an Irish or EU politician believe carbon taxes are going to save the world while the EU also plans to intensify measures on agriculture to reduce emissions?
If leaders are serious about saving the world from climate change, then stopping wars would be a starting point instead of taxing us all into oblivion.
The EU really needs to step up and join the real world as to food and energy security going forward, because in recent times, they have begun to look more like a tree-hugging commune that is happy to rewild the whole continent, yet when conflicts begin, they are completely exposed due to a lack of resources.
I mentioned recently in other articles about the threat of foot and mouth disease to EU farms, and in a follow-up piece, I mentioned how Cyprus had detected cases which were spreading.
The disease has now spread from Cyprus to Greece, and if the EU do not take serious action, it will simply spread further.
Austria has yet again stepped up border checks, which the EU are not too happy with, but Austria has huge concerns over the spread of the disease.
At the very least, Ireland needs to inform holidaymakers travelling to Cyprus and Greece that absolutely no meat or dairy can be brought home from these countries, and we need to consider ramping up checks on flights coming into Ireland from these countries or our agricultural economy may pay a huge price.
