Dillon's army ready to deliver ultimatum

Agriculture Correspondent

A total of 2,000 tractors arrived at six staging posts on the outskirts of the capital last night on the fourth day of the protest.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce described the protest as a publicity stunt by the IFA and warned that it could cost businesses in the city millions in lost revenue.

But the IFA said it was co-operating fully with the gardaí and that the tractors will arrive for the protest at noon and depart by 2pm.

In order to minimise traffic disruption, it had agreed with the gardaí that only 300 tractors including farmers from all participating counties will proceed to Merrion Square.

Six convoys of 50 tractors will depart from Swords, Ashbourne, Clonee, Maynooth, Naas and Bray between 10.30am and 11am.

Gardaí will escort each convoy and will use bus lanes and motorway sections where possible to minimise traffic disruption.

The protest at Merrion Square is expected to end at 2pm and the convoys will return their original starting points, again under garda escort. Gardaí said last night that no disruption to early Friday morning traffic was expected, but delays were likely in the afternoon.

The demonstration will be monitored by the Garda Air Support Unit. Members of the force will be in position at crucial junctions.

Garda motorcyclists will also patrol each convoy. Fine Gael spokesperson on agriculture Billy Timmins, TD, called on Dublin business people to support the farmers right to protest.

But the Chamber of Commerce policy director Declan Martin said farmers should follow last year's example of road hauliers who agreed with the gardaí to send just six trucks into the city centre for a protest outside the Dáil.

The former Minister of State Ned O'Keeffe, a Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East, who will be attending today's protest, said he believed the farmers have a strong case.

"They had seen a very serious drop in their income. The drop in the price of milk last year amounted to around 100m for dairy farmers in Munster, on top of their increased costs," he said.

Dessie Boylan, president, ICOS, the co-ops umbrella body, said the continuing weak market for agricultural produce is a contributing factor to this

income crisis as well as significant cost increases, which are outside farmers' control.

Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) president Edwin Pratt said the financial problems facing farmers after one of the wettest years in history were further highlighted in the recent budget.

A change in the system of capital allowances for machinery write-off was a tax on productive farming and was seen as a disincentive to investment on commercial farms.

Mr Pratt said the decision to change the roll-over relief for land acquired for road development also impacts negatively on farmers.