Meps to attend tonights icsa public meeting in athlone

MEPs Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Mairead McGuinness and Marian Harkin have confirmed that they will attend tonight’s public meeting hosted by the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association at the Athlone Springs Hotel, which takes place at 8.30pm.
The meeting will focus on land eligibility penalties faced by many farmers, particularly those in disadvantaged areas, and on farmers’ concerns regarding the Dublin-Galway Greenway.
Local TDs and councillors will also be in attendance.
Roscommon ICSA chairman Ger Grehan said: “Farmers all over the country have been affected by LPIS penalties, up to 100% of their single payment in some cases, and there are huge concerns about how the department is dealing with this. We are providing a forum for all farmers to raise these concerns and to share experiences with the public representatives present, and a large turnout of affected farmers would really serve to drive home the anger felt by so many.”
“Our west Cork chairman, Dermot Kelleher, will be in attendance at the meeting to outline the proposed legal challenge against the unfairness of these penalties by a group of farmers in his area, which will be of interest to anyone who may find themselves in a similar situation.
“The meeting will also discuss the proposed Dublin, Galway Greenway. Farmers have raised a number of major issues with the proposed development, and so far, these seem to have fallen on deaf ears. People’s livelihoods are at stake here, and the matter cannot be ignored by the authorities.”