Where did the top direct payments in each county go in 2023?

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has released its annual publication of beneficiaries of direct payments and other measures under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023.

EU member states are required to publish a full list of beneficiaries of all forms of CAP funding for each calendar year.

The annual publication includes the name the beneficiary (which may be an individual person, company, or other legal entity); the county or municipality where the beneficiary is resident or located; and the amount of payment received across all measures as well as particular measures.

Agriland has published an article detailing the top 10 beneficiaries nationwide, which you can read here. In this article, we reveal the top beneficiaries in each county (the names of the beneficiaries below are reproduced exactly as they appear in the department’s publication).

Starting with Leinster, we see that the highest payment in the province went to O’Shea Farms Unlimited Co of Co. Kilkenny, which received €222,637.97 in direct payments in 2023. This was the second-highest payment nationwide.

The third-highest direct payment received in Leinster in 2023 was also the third-highest payment received nationwide. This went to Godolphin Ireland Limited, based in Co. Kildare, which received €220,272.20.

The third-highest direct payment received in Leinster went to Branganstown Farms Limited of Co. Louth, which received €204,033.60.

Of the remaining nine counties in Leinster, the highest payments in four of them fell between €150,000 and €200,000; the highest payments in a further four counties fell between €100,000 and €150,000 and the highest payment in one county was less than €100,000.

The highest payments in each Leinster county are outlined in the following table:

Moving on to Munster, and the highest direct payment received was €235,530.67, which went to Artemis Farms of Co. Tipperary. This was also the highest direct payment nationwide for 2023.

Castlecor Potatoes Unlimited in Co. Cork received €219,631.18, the fourth-highest figure nationally, while Cocow Farm Limited in Co. Kerry received €200,234.69, the seventh-highest figure nationally.

In Co. Waterford, the highest payment went to John & Peter Queally, which amounted to €192,133.29, the 10th highest figure nationwide.

John O’Loughlin of Co. Clare and Heathfield Dairy Farms Ltd in Co. Limerick received €124,632.00 and €125,230.08 respectively.

Now looking at Connacht, the highest direct payment went to Hans Weirner Meis of Co. Galway, who received €189,701.50.

Patricia Sheila Kelly of Co. Mayo received €135,721.97, while Padraig McGuinness of Co. Leitrim received €130,893.67.

In Co. Roscommon, €104,529.81 in direct payments went to Hilltop Dairies Ltd, while Michael Barrett of Co. Sligo received €94,187.00.

None of the highest recipients in Connacht featured in the top 10 beneficiaries nationwide.

Finally, looking at Ulster, Binnasruell Farm Ltd of Co. Donegal received €126,069.64, while Sean & Ciara Brady of Co. Cavan saw direct payments worth €110,687.48.

Finally in terms of counties based in the Republic of Ireland, Wilson Farm Ltd in Co. Monaghan received €78,114.05.

The publication also includes beneficiaries based in Norther Ireland who received funding through Ireland’s CAP programme.

The highest beneficiary in that case was Howard A Lynn, who received €32,399.04.