Sir, - I did my agricultural training and degree in the early 1050s. There seemed no future on the land here so, like so many others, I took off for warmer climes and farming in distant lands, to earn my living in my chosen and handed-down profession.
During the past 40 years I have returned on an average of once every four years. I have watched the not-prepared-to-work Irish farmers leech from, plead for and finally rape the EU. During this period they have also been party to the "live register" and have accomplished nixers of myriad hues.
Incredibly filthy farmyards married to muddy mires of once hallowed pastures are now the norm, as seen on television. These farmers refuse to face up to basic logic. If it doesn't pay, make it or get out. Ostrich-like, they refuse to believe that farming is a business. They expect the entire world to pander to their needs. And they are vociferously assisted by their various unions and associations.
Will they ever realise that brown envelopes are not Nirvana? Pull up your sleeves, lads, and get farming. Get real! - Yours, etc., Humphrey Nichols,
Priory Grove, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.