IFA National Hill Farming Chairman Flor McCarthy said the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Culture Josepha Madigan has to allow the managed burning of gorse in March. “The Minister has to take account of how farmers manage their hill land responsibly and where land is burned, it is done in a managed way,” he said. […]

Michael Biggins has been elected as the new Chairman of the IFA National Rural Development Committee at a meeting in Dublin this week.

IFA Deputy President Richard Kennedy has called on Heritage Minister Josepha Madigan to demonstrate that restrictions that are imposed on farmers with designated Natura land are properly compensated for with the reopening of the NPWS Farm Plan scheme which has been closed for some time.

Following a protest today at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht today, Minister Josepha Madigan has agreed to meet IFA next week.