FARMING:AS THE farming community across the country geared up to help colleagues hit by flooding, their plight was raised with the European Commission by Irish Farmers Association president Pádraig Walshe.
Mr Walshe, also president of Copa, the European farm organisation, briefed the EU commissioner for agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, and sought an aid package for farmers.
He outlined to her the scale of the devastation and said this, combined with income reduction, was placing a huge strain on families.
Those hardest hit by flooding were facing disaster and he impressed upon her and her officials the need for urgent assistance. He also called on the Government to seek the same help.
The Joint Oireachtas Committees on Agriculture and European Affairs, meeting yesterday, said Ireland should apply for financial aid to the European Solidarity Fund.
The chairman of the committee on agriculture, Johnny Brady, said farmers and agri-businesses had been among the worst hit by the storms and flooding.
As conditions continued to worsen, especially in Galway, Roscommon and Clare, the IFA opened its first clinic to help farmers claim from the €2 million fund set up for fodder relief.
Farmers badly affected by the flooding were urged to register their details with their local IFA office and the information will be passed on to the Department of Agriculture, which is co-ordinating the allocation of the fodder fund.
A number of self-help groups have been set up in the farming community and farmers with surplus fodder have been donating it for distribution. One such group, the Dairy Farmers Crisis Group in Offaly, has already collected straw and feed for farmers in worst-hits areas and they plan to distribute this through marts in the midlands.