Deal needs cash to sway farmers

THE Taoiseach’s call on farmers to sign up to the partnership deal will generate talks but are likely to fall on deaf ears unless hard cash is seen on the table.

Given the economic downturn, and with farm incomes plummeting, it is hard to blame them for viewing with suspicion the promise of €300 million if they come on board.

Their demands were seen in sharp relief by the latest crop of statistics showing that more than 8,000 farmers now receive social welfare benefits because they have fallen below the poverty line. Around 1,600 come from Mayo, where land is poor and farmers are hard pressed to survive.