Ploughing Championships 2015: Tánaiste Joan Burton denies €30m is rural ‘bribe’

Tánaiste Joan Burton has denied a €30m rural revitalisation scheme, set to be launched after the next election, is an attempt to bribe country voters.

Insisting Labour would do well in rural areas despite an Irish Examiner/ICMSA farming survey showing the party with zero support among farmers, Ms Burton said the money would boost job prospects.

“The idea is to spread the recovery beyond urban areas to towns and villages, and this money is in addition to other funding for rural areas. It is intended to make the villages and towns, which may have closed-up shops for instance, more attractive,” she said.