Sheep farmers did what their companions in the pig industry failed to do on Monday when they delivered a coffin to the Kildare Street gates of the Department of Agriculture in Dublin yesterday.
The sheep farmers, members of the Irish Cattle Traders' and Stockowners' Association, had walked from Parnell Square to Kildare Street to highlight the problems they face in their sector.
There they deposited a coffin containing an effigy of a sheep, which carried a banner complaining that the Government had killed the industry by neglect.
At the gates of the Dail, the national chairman of the ICSA, Mr Charlie Reilly, condemned the Government for its handling of the income crisis in sheep farming, which has seen a virtual collapse of prices over the last 18 months.
That crisis has been fuelled by the collapse of the Russian market for sheepskin, competition from the UK and New Zealand and an EU environmental scheme which led to "de-stocking" in the west and a dramatic fall in ewe prices there.
The chairman of the ICSA sheep committee, Mr John Deegan, told the 300 farmers who had taken part in the march that he had sought Government assurances that a national retail price-monitoring system be implemented.
He said this would ensure a realistic relationship among producer, retailer and consumer prices, which did not exist at present.
He called for Irish farmers to be protected from unfair competition from non-EU countries.
He also called for clear labelling of imported lamb and the removal of a charge for disposing of risk material from sheep, which accounts for 15 per cent of cull ewe value.
He accused the Government of reneging on a commitment to western hill farmers that they would receive £35 to £40 per ewe for de-stocking the western mountains.
He also demanded ICSA representation on the National Sheep Forum and on An Bord Bia's meat and livestock committee.