TOM McELLIGOTT,
Madam, - In a world awash in information of dubious provenance, Alan Matthews's analysis of the "Crisis on the Farm" (Opinion, January 7th) was both factually correct and refreshingly honest.
As someone who spent 15 years toiling with all sorts of restrictions and bureaucracy as a diary farmer in Co Kerry before plunging into an alternative career in the roller-coaster world of IT and telecommunications, I know full well how difficult and scary it is to accept change.
The reality is that since the introduction of the Common Agricultural Policy farmers and their leaders have been led to believe that their livelihoods depend on subsidies and guaranteed handouts. They have used all their rightful powers to persuade and influence those who control the purse-strings that theirs is indeed a special case. What they haven't realised is that through their very own actions they have become totally dependent on this addiction.
Commercial organisations receive grants of one form or another to do business and provide employment but, unlike farmers, they operate mostly in a competitive free market where barriers to entry usually do not exist and success is largely determined by the skills of individuals and management. Farming regrettably is a closed shop and only when farmers and their leaders realise that protectionism and dependency are damaging to their long-term survival can this vital industry generate sustainable development again.
Farmers need new and smart leadership, not just here but across Europe, if this dependency relationship with handouts is to be broken. Not the political pugilists we are seeing at present but leaders who "think outside the box" and are not afraid to sacrifice short-term gain for more long-term sustainable development. - Yours, etc.,
TOM McELLIGOTT, Montpelier Hill, Dublin 7.
Madam, - The people who are protesting seem intent on destroying their own industry by polluting rivers, destroying hedgerows, using excessive amounts of fertilisers and insecticides, treating and feeding animals with banned substances and, through greed, allowing the country to be exposed to foot-and-mouth Disease and BSE. - Yours, etc.,
FRANCES CULLEN, Greystones, Co Wicklow.