Whichever candidates farmers choose in this Friday’s (June 7) elections, the most important thing is that they exercise their right to vote.
That is the view of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Ulster/North Leinster regional chair, Frank Brady who spoke to Agriland ahead of the European and local elections.
“You get what you vote for this Friday. There’s no point complaining in two or three years’ time that nobody’s listening to you when you choose to stay on the tractor.
“10 minutes off the tractor, 10 minutes to get to the polling station, two minutes to vote and back out again.
“People died for the right to vote. Use your right, use your vote and have a say in what way Ireland is going forward,” he said.
Elections
On Friday, there will be three elections happening: the European Parliament elections, the local elections and the first directly elected mayor for those living in Co. Limerick.
From the 73 candidates across three constituencies, 14 MEPs will be chosen to represent Ireland in the EU Parliament.
949 seats are to be filled in county and city councils in 166 local electoral areas around the country. More than 2,100 candidates are running in the local elections.
Frank Brady stressed the importance of this week’s votes, along with the next general election, particularly when it comes to farmers and those living in rural Ireland.
“I’m looking for all people to have a vote. First exercise the vote, and then think carefully about who they vote for. I am not going to stand here and tell anybody who to vote for,” he said.
Brady said that all local election candidates were sent a survey by IFA to clarify their position on issues such as planning; Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT); ash dieback; connectivity and environmental inspections.
The results of the survey are available on the IFA website.
Rural Ireland
The IFA regional chair said it is important to elect people who are interested in the issues facing rural Ireland.
He acknowledged that work has been done to help rural areas, but a lot more needs to be done.
“We’re forgotten about and the only thing that seems to matter for a lot of the time is Dublin and everything goes into Dublin, the children’s hospital being a case in point.
“We have to pick people now who are going to be interested and push the agenda that rural Ireland gets some of the industries that have gone into Dublin,” he said.
He said that young people need a reason to live in rural Ireland which will in turn benefit local communities and clubs.
When it comes to the European elections, Brady said it is equally important to back “the best candidates”.
“If we send out people [to Europe] that are renegades or are against the system and are no to everything, then I don’t think we’re doing ourselves justice. So we have to be careful who we vote for there.
“There’s no point voting for people that might talk the talk but won’t do the walk. We have to be very, very careful that we vote for people for the right reasons. We can show our anger by voting for these people,” he said.
Brady believes that there is a better awareness of the challenges facing farmers and food producers among some candidates.
“We’re producing more for less instead of producing the right amount of food that’s needed for the right price.
“Some of the politicians have been absolutely brilliant, and really are getting into the scheme of things that food is very important.
“Ireland is a food producing country, and if we work with the farmers, we will get to where we want for the carbon footprint,” he said.