THE €285 per acre "double" premium negotiated for many farmers by Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh is "so good, it's unbelievable", said one forestry promoter this week.

A SENIOR Government member has demanded the restraining or abolition of Duchas, the Heritage Service, and accused it of imposing a reign of terror on farmers.

THE bungling bureaucrats of Duchas (the Heritage Service) have done more to endanger than save the hen harrier, with their protection plan for the surviving 90 to 100 breeding pairs on more than half a million acres of North Munster uplands.