Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FINE GAEL REMAINS the most popular political party among Irish farmers, a new poll has found.
The Irish Farmers Journal has commissioned Ifac to carry out independent research among its dataset of subscribers and print readers.
37% of farmers surveyed said they would give their first-preference vote to Fine Gael in a general election. This is an unchanged figure from the last poll, taken in May of this year.
Fianna Fáil’s level of support is also unchanged, at 23%.
Sinn Féin has been steadily gaining support in recent polls, but this time its support dropped to 13%.
Just 30% of farmers polled rated Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue as good or very good, while 31% see him as having performed poorly or very poorly. The other 39% of people are indifferent about his performance.
Only one in three respondents (30%) rated the performance of farm organisations, such as IFA, ICMSA, ICSA and Macra na Feirme, as good or very good.
Dissatisfaction with the performance of the farm organisations is most apparent among tillage farmers, with 42% describing their efforts as poor or very poor. Just 21% of cereal growers classed the farm bodies as good or very good.
The poll also found that one-third of farmers have reduced stock numbers this year. It found that 36% of beef farmers and 37% of sheep farmers have cut numbers. Just 24% of dairy farmers, however, have reduced their herd size.
When asked to explain the reason why they had decided to cut cattle numbers, beef farmers generally cited input costs, tight fodder suppliers or the high purchase price of cattle.
44% of respondents to the poll were beef farmers, 19% were dairy farmers, 12% were sheep farmers and 4% were tillage farmers. The remaining respondents comprised of contract rearers, pig farmers, poultry farmers and horticultural enterprises.
A sample of 1,801 people were polled for the research carried out between 7 and 14 September. There is a margin of error of 3%.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
You can turn them off?
I have heard it all now. There is a disorder for everything
Pretty dependent on mine, but it’s pretty sad when you look at a group of people in a pub / restaurant and they’re all tapping away in silence together. I’m good at putting it away when I’m with friends / family
Yep, I am totally addicted to mine…it’s always by my side. If I leave the house without it I go straight back home to pick it up… Bit of a worry really!
Yup that’s me !! I panic tbh thought it was unhealthy alright ! Since I was 16 I have slept with my phone next to me !! Lol it sounds crazy when I think about it! I’m more afraid of misplacing my phone than misplacing my friend lol
So have this.
Yeah i know someone like that.. wakes up in the morning and checks email twitter and FB. dont think she checks for texts of phone calls tho.
Shouldn’t it be called iPhobia?
It was inevitable really. We live in the information age where everything and anything can be done ‘via web’.. I’m addicted to mine, but tbh I think that’s an acceptable lifestyle in this day and age.
don’t give a monkeys about my phone, can easily go a day or two without checking it and i use a 5 year old 2g iphone
Well, it’ll probably be starting school in September so at least you’ll have the day to yourself.
Hahaha @David
This disease was rampant up until the end of the last century. Lead people to vandalise public phones (a phone in a glass box at the side of the street) by ripping off the hand set ( the part of the glass box you had to speak into)
You talking about me?
Haha does NOT apply to me at all! I have the most wonderful phone HTC RHYME and I never Ever know where it is and so never hear it ringing and so do not know who called or texted me. I am so bad that sometimes I see Txts only days later lol
Ah jaysus, couldn’t you have put up a picture of an iPhone. What the hell is that yolk
my worse case was the other night my friend got a tx and straight away all I could think was where is my phone, couldnt c it in my sight so spent ages looking for it for no reason…….is there a helpline for us yet???
duh of course its ok unless you’re from the 1920′s
have your say