I have been extremely concerned about the future of the agricultural industry for some time but now more so than ever before. Some of the recent developments should raise red flags for all in the farming and rural communities.
One such red flag was when the British Government voted a bill through the House of Commons in May 2020 that lowers food safety standards.
This was supported by the DUP MPs in Westminster – and remember that the DUP also holds the Agricultural Ministry in the executive.
It would seem to me that the farming industry both here in the north and across the water in Britain is being sacrificed at the altar of the trade deal with Donald Trump’s US administration.
The second red flag raised was in March when the DUP was the only party in Stormont who voted against a Sinn Féin motion for the reintroduction of ANC payments for hill farmers. This payment was in place, in one form or another, from the late 1950s and was designed to compensate hill farmers for farming in the less favoured areas.
The DUP scrapped this back in 2017, which was seen by many as an attack on the hill farmers.
The most recent red flag for farmers was just a few days ago when the DUP again was the only party to vote against a Sinn Féin motion which asked that the farmers in the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) be given a fair allocation of the £25m fund provided by the Finance Minister Conor Murphy to help farm businesses through the Covid-19 crisis. For some unbelievable reason the DUP opposed this motion.
Have they something against hill farmers?
Another worrying development is that the question in relation to the less favoured areas has been removed from the 2020 Census form. It almost looks like the hill farmers are being slowly written out of the farm history.
This attack on farmers in the less favoured areas is all the more surprising when you consider that 92 per cent of Fermanagh is within the less favoured areas and that the DUP leader Arlene Foster is an elected MLA from Fermanagh.
The farming industry and especially the farmers in the less favoured areas really need to waken up to what is happening before it is too late.
Cllr SHEAMUS GREENE
Sinn Féin, Fermanagh and Omagh
There’s little wonder that riots have broken out all over American states
The shocking killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has outraged people worldwide. Afterwards the authorities said he resisted arrest and he had to be subdued but luckily someone had excellent video of the atrocity that proved that to be false.
What makes it all so chilling was that three of colleagues were standing, looking on and did nothing to save Mr Floyd. They were complicit in the and should be charged.
No-one should be surprised by this, as it is happening in many of America’s major cities. It is little wonder that riots have broken out all over the US because nothing has been done since Martin Luther King was gunned down in Memphis 52 years ago.
Since President Trump was elected in 2016 the situation has become much worse over his support for the people to have so many guns.
Anyone watching CNN on June 1 must have wondered what was going on with several trucks of US army personnel driving into the complex of the White House. There were several hundred demonstrators close by who were very peaceful but they were attacked by police with tear gas and pepper spray. This was to clear a path for Trump to walk to a nearby church. When he got there it was a very bizarre spectacle.
He held up a bible and talked about sending in the army to stop the riots if the state governors refused to stamp it out.
This must have pleased the bible thumpers in the southern states.
It was a different story on the previous night when he was cowering in a bunker under the White House.
TJ CARRAGHER
Cullyhanna, Co Armagh
Maximum rule for worship without logic
In normal times more than one million people attend Church services in Ireland every week. Now more than ever faith and spirituality is playing an important role in so many people’s lives. We see villages joining together in prayer for those who are sick, we see the wonderful efforts of parish priests in keeping communities together, checking in on the vulnerable, the grieving, the sick and the elderly in any given parish. A few weeks ago the Republic’s government guidelines were suggesting that places of worship would not reopen until the very end, that sporting events and all sorts of other gatherings would be getting the green light ahead of mosques, synagogues or churches.
Places of worship are being permitted to open, however, the guidelines limit attendance to 50 people per religious service. What the guidelines fail to take into account is the fact that you could have a small chapel on the side of a mountain in rural Ireland that can barely hold 50 and you could have a cathedral in a city that can contain thousands. The limit should reflect the capacity of building. The limit should be in proportion to ability of people to maintain good social distancing.
There isn’t just the spiritual aspect of weekly worship that people are missing, it’s also the community spirit.
I would call on government to re-evaluate the situation and to use some common sense.
PEADAR TÓIBÍN TD
Baile Átha Cliath
Severe gross failings
Being in my mid-eighties where, I may include, having travelled the world close to 30 of those years, visiting many countries of varying race, colour and creed, I can honestly say I never experienced any difficulty in accepting or being accepted by anyone I encountered.
With regard to the present global campaign of ‘Black Lives Matter’ I readily accept that this campaign has primarily arisen due to the killing of George Floyd.
However, this senseless catastrophic act has openly exposed the severe gross failings by both America’s Republican and Democratic political parties who have for years governed the people of this so-called utopian political system.
I always viewed once there is any form of dissent, be it race, political, religious or even sport, the ‘hooligan brigade of society’ who thrive in creating lawlessness soon take over.
Now the encompassment of poverty and slavery has been with society for a very long time, where this hooligan brigade will ensure poverty will stay that way.
HARRY STEPHENSON
Kircubbin, Co Down
