Farming women in Fermanagh are glad to have somewhere to escape to these days. Life on the farm is becoming too depressing.
The Women in Agriculture project was set up to encourage women to develop skills that could help them start businesses or earn off-farm income, but it has now become an important social outlet.
"Women are saying to me they're glad to be able to get out and talk about it because the men at home are so depressed," says Ann Orr, co-ordinator of the programme.
"Even before foot-and-mouth they were talking about what future was there for their sons. Now I can't see any young people wanting to go into farming. It's terrible because a whole tradition is being threatened."
Chrissie Dolan, who farms with her husband John at Derryargon, two miles from Enniskillen, is one of 220 women taking part in the scheme. John seems to find the idea a bit amusing. "As long as they're home to put the dinner on the table, I don't mind," he jibes.
It's a spring day and the sun is shining over unspoiled green countryside. Nearby, on a hilltop, an ancient church and round tower add to the tranquillity.
The couple's second grandchild is to be christened later in the day. But there is no getting away from the uncertainty hanging over their livelihoods.
"You're listening to every news bulletin - you worry because you don't know what's around the corner," says John. The couple's youngest child is in her final year in university - all six children went to college.
"There's no way we could afford to send them to college now so we're lucky ours are at that stage," says Chrissie.
They say their income had fallen over the past five years because of BSE and, just when they thought things would improve this year, foot-and-mouth arrived. Milk prices have fallen sharply in March. The problem, says John, is with turnover, and the banks have not been slow to react.
"They don't look at you the same way as they used to - they are starting to think you are a dicey customer." The social side of farmers' lives has all but disappeared. The Thursday mart in Enniskillen is closed and will be for some time. Ann Orr's office is beside the mart and she says it is hard to get used to the silence.
"It is unbelievable, it's like death. Before I could hear the bidding, now there isn't a sound. For a lot of men that was their only social outing - they'd meet at the mart and have dinner together. Some of these men live on their own and now they are cut off completely - they can't even go and ceili up the road with other farmers." Back in Enniskillen, life appears to be carrying on as normal, but quietly, even for a town that could rarely be described as bustling. Businesses are being badly affected, particularly hotels and guesthouses which rely heavily on visiting anglers. Restrictions are easing but fishing has been banned and all national parks, forest trails and walkways have been closed.
Fermanagh is a very rural county and depends largely on agriculture and tourism. Shopkeepers say there has been a noticeable drop in the number of people from the South coming to the town, and many people disagree with the line the Irish Government has taken, pointing out that there is no more foot-and-mouth in the North than in the South.
At the Farm Health Products shop, where all kinds of farm supplies are sold, Tom Donnelly says things are getting tighter all the time. Staff had already been reduced from five to three because of the BSE crisis. Now farmers are only buying products that are essential. Mineral supplements for cattle, for example, are not selling. "People are just buying the bare minimum. When there is no mart, there is no money circulating." Gerry McHugh, farmer, Sinn Fein Assembly member and the party's agriculture spokesman, says restrictions on livestock movement will have to be eased or "bursting point" will be reached. He says the permit system is not adequate and is calling for farm-to-farm sales to be allowed. A member of a local tourism organisation, he says bookings are down at least 50 per cent.
Mike Murphy, a dairy farmer in Ballyrea, a few miles from Enniskillen, says it's like "looking into the abyss". He has been left with 30 new-born calves he would normally have sold on. "The men who want calves can't get them and men who have them can't get rid of them," he says. He leaves his farm only to go to church. "We just walk about now with our fingers crossed and hope for the best."