Bygone Days: UFU lands farm protest on the steps of Stormont as crisis deepens (2000)

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Thousands of farmers descended on Stormont at the end of January and early February 2000 to drive home the gravity of the crisis facing Northern Ireland’s biggest industry.

While a debate on agriculture took place in the Assembly, farmers from all over the province made their feelings known outside.

Organised by the Ulster Farmers’ Union, the protest highlighted the problems the industry is facing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

More than 50 buses brought farmers, their wives and family members from each of the union’s 26 administrative areas.

Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture Brid Rodgers being interviewed in front of the crowd of farmers who were protesting at Stormont in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/PacemakerNorthern Ireland Minister for Agriculture Brid Rodgers being interviewed in front of the crowd of farmers who were protesting at Stormont in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker
Northern Ireland Minister for Agriculture Brid Rodgers being interviewed in front of the crowd of farmers who were protesting at Stormont in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker

On the steps of Stormont, they demanded active support and funding from the government.

“We are here to let our voice be heard and to demonstrate the trouble in the farming industry,” said one farmer.

“For too long we have been forced to keep going whether we're making any money or not.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It's what we have done all our lives, you just learn to tighten your belt. But it can't go on, we need a fair deal for a lifetime of work.”

Northern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/PacemakerNorthern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker
Northern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker

Another farmer, William Brown, said he and his wife Joyce had travelled quite a distance to give their support to the industry.

“I have farmed since I came home from school at 14, and I am now 57 and looking for the retirement scheme that may take some of us off the payroll,” he said.

“But I don’t think there will be a lot come out of this protest really. The miners went to the wall and the farmers are going to go the same way.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Brown also accused Tony Blair of “sticking his boot” into people who were “already on their knees” by suggesting that farmers would have to be more diverse and develop new skills.

Northern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/PacemakerNorthern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker
Northern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker

“What enterprises do we have within agriculture, they are damn few and far between.”

Joyce Brown added: “There will be no support for the farmers from Tony Blair, absolutely none.” Mother-of-four Brenda Chivers told how her family was constantly faced with a mountain of debt and no way out.

“Things are extremely tough for us at the moment and every day I say we are digging ourselves into a bigger hole.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“My husband and I only got into farming four years go and after the first year things to get really bad.

Northern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/PacemakerNorthern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker
Northern Ireland farmers at Stormont to draw attention to their situation and lobby ministers in February 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker

“At the moment there doesn’t seem to be any kind of a lifeline coming our way, but we will just have to keep battling on.”

James Chivers, from Ballygowan, said the province's farmers were faced with a crisis situation and a government that did not want to do anything about it.

“Tony Blair and his government are not interested in what we have to produce because people can buy the food cheaper from other countries.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I think it is time our own Agriculture Minister got her act together and supported Ulster’s farmers because so many more people benefit from an industry that has hit rock bottom.”

Mark Agnew, from Hamiltonsbawn, Co Armagh, stressed that families cannot survive on their incomes.

“I think our Agriculture Minister realises the gravity of the situation, but I hope she can do something, otherwise Northern Ireland’s biggest industry is finished and there will be no hope for our young people.”

Farmers protest by blocking the road outside a Dungannon abattoir demanding that local abattoirs match cattle prices paid to farmers in the rest of the UK. The protest had been organised by the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association in January 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/PacemakerFarmers protest by blocking the road outside a Dungannon abattoir demanding that local abattoirs match cattle prices paid to farmers in the rest of the UK. The protest had been organised by the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association in January 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker
Farmers protest by blocking the road outside a Dungannon abattoir demanding that local abattoirs match cattle prices paid to farmers in the rest of the UK. The protest had been organised by the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association in January 2000. Picture: Stephen Wilson/Pacemaker

Retired farmer James McKee said he handed his business down to his son, unaware of the problems he was about to face.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Like all other farmers, my son works all the hours God sends to keep his head above water and has achieved nothing but ill health.

“Some nights I have to go out and switch the lights out just to get him to quit.”

Newtownards farmer Matt McKee said the land he farmed was bought by his great-grandfather and handed down from generation to generation.

“Farming has always been a tradition in our family and it is hard to think of us surviving without it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“But most farmers my age have had a better time and it is our young people that we are left to feel for now.”

Robert Stewart, from Bangor, said that for months he had been working at a loss.

“I have been farming for 40 years and have never come through anything like this in my life,” he said.

“My son was working alongside me but he had to get a part-time job, things are that bad.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Tony Blair is sitting up in a big house on a comfortable income and has no idea what the rest of us are going through. I would challenge him to come and spend a week with us to see what it is really like.”

Families meet with Farm Minister: The Minister of Agriculture, Brid Rodgers, had a closed meeting with six farming families and UFU president Will Taylor, hearing at first-hand the difficulties faced by people in the agricultural industry.

The families were selected from the various sectors within farming and represented each of the six counties.

The UFU said afterwards that the minister was “moved and touched” by the true-life stories she heard, and sympathised with them, assuring them that she would be doing everything to make the future brighter for the industry and them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rodgers pledges every effort to aid agriculture: The Minister of Agriculture told thousands of farmers and rural dwellers that she sympathised with them in the present crisis and pledged to do everything she could to help.

Brid Rodgers, who walked down the steps of Stormont to face people involved in the farming industry, said she knew sympathy did not butter any parsnips, but she was doing, and would continue to do, all she could within the constraints of the European Union.

The SDLP minister told the rally that she would be seeking an urgent meeting with Nick Brown, the UK Agriculture Minister, to secure EU compensation for the strength of the pound, and pressing the Treasury for the £50 million available from the EU to compensate the province.

“BSE low-incidence status is also a must for the province, and I am still pushing that matter at every level. Northern Ireland beef is the safest beef in all these islands and I am making that case every day,” Mrs Rodgers said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Farmers had travelled from all over the province to hold a protest, organised by the Ulster Farmers’ Union, in front of Parliament Buildings, at the same time as a debate was taking place on the current farming crisis in the Assembly.

Will Taylor, UFU president, said he had been overwhelmed by the number of people from the industry who turned out.

Addressing the crowd, he said: “Never ever has this industry of our’s been in such a crisis. Never ever has it been attacked from so many quarters. We have a single message with one voice. Enough is enough.”

He added: “We cannot continue on £50 per week. This Assembly and the Labour government need to get it across to them that we need a new deal, one which would protect our heritage.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Dr Ian Paisley, chairman of the Assembly’s Agricultural Committee, said those protesting were the “custodians of the soil” who were not interested in giving a bed and breakfast to someone.

“I offered the minister 15 propositions in which to help the industry.

“I challenge her to take up just one of them and run with it. Too often she has been defending the department, now she should be defending the farmer,” he said.

Women’s Coalition MLA Jane Morrow said that it was not a case of rural dwellers versus city slickers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Everyone in Northern Ireland has a part to play in saving the top industry in the province. Everyone must do their bit to save that industry,” she said.

Her next comment, “Farmers owe the banks over £520 million, Come on Tony Blair,” met with the response from the crowd “Tony Blair doesn't care.”

Speaking in the Assembly she said the government was to blame for the crisis, for BSE and the strength of sterling, which could result in the “death of our farming community”.

She alleged that the government had flouted the rules over BSE.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It did not stick to the rules of Europe set down on BSE. The government bent the rules and now the farmers have to take the blame and take responsibility.”

Robert McCartney said people in Northern Ireland had to know they were getting Northern Ireland produce, and he appealed to retailers to ensure they were stocking that produce.

The Reverend William McCrea said the farming industry is seriously haemorrhaging and the department is seeking to put a sticking plaster over the complaint.

He also called on the department to investigate what really happened in the pig industry.

“The reality overall is that the farming community is facing total collapse,” he added.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1963
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice