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Investigatesoff leash<< WARNING: This article contains graphic images of the effects of dog bites >>
WHEN 12 YEAR-OLD Darryl Brady-Graham was savagely attacked by a dog on the restricted breeds list, his mum Deborah hoped its owner would face the full force of the law.
But in April – two-and-a-half years after the schoolboy received emergency surgery to treat the life-changing injuries to his face – the dangerous dog’s owner was handed a fine.
“The judge issued a €950 fine – tell me that is good enough for a dog that actually could have killed my son,” the north Dublin woman told Noteworthy.
“I walked out of that court that day and I felt sick. People get more of a fine for driving down a bus lane.”
This month marked three years from the terrifying attack which took place when Darryl was playing football in a park close to his Clonsilla home.
He was set upon by a staffie/pitbull type dog after it broke free from a 14 year-old boy who had been walking the pet through the pitch.
The unmuzzled dog tore at Darryl’s face and also his arm, with the mauling so severe that the 12 year-old required 160 stitches – most to his face – and over four hours of surgery at Dublin’s Temple Street Children’s Hospital. The dog was later destroyed.
Under The Control of Dogs Regulations 1998, restricted dogs – including strains and crosses – must be kept on a short strong leash, in the control of someone over the age of 16 and muzzled in a public place.
Those found in breach of the strict rules face financial penalties, imprisonment, as well as seizure and destruction of the dog.
However, the Brady-Graham family’s horrific ordeal shows that in even in the most serious of cases, enforcement of the regulations leaves a lot to be desired.
“I’m just blessed that he is still alive, that dog could have taken my son from me and to issue out that fine, I just feel was way too lenient,” Brady-Graham said.
“It makes me angry that the fact that the laws are actually crap when it comes to clamping down on people.”
Since the attack on young Darryl in December 2020, reports of dog attacks in Ireland have soared.
Earlier this year, the Department of of Rural and Community Development revealed that more than 300 people were injured due to a dog attack in 2022.
It was the first time statistics on aggressive behaviour and dog attacks on people reported to local authorities have been compiled.
An investigation by Noteworthy has found that the concerning rise in reports to councils has continued throughout 2023, with data showing that in some areas attacks have more than doubled.
From January to November this year, Dublin City Council received 63 reports of dogs attacking people, up from just nine reports for the entire year previous.
Reports to Wicklow County Council also saw a significant increase, with 26 people reporting they had been attacked by dogs in the 11 months of this year, compared to just six in 2022.
Dog attack incidents doubled in Cavan from four to eight, while 2023 reports to Offaly council increased six-fold, from one dog attack last year to six reports.
Of the 23 councils able to provide data, 60% reported an increase in dogs attacking people from the previous year.
There was also a significant rise in reports of aggressive dog behaviour in some council areas, with Fingal County Council receiving 88 complaints from members of the public in 2023 – up from 29 last year.
Figures provided by Louth, Tipperary, Galway City, Leitrim and Offaly councils also showed an increase in these type of reports.
In total, councils recorded 366 dog-on-dog attacks, or attacks on other animals, which occurred between January to November this year.
Noteworthy also asked councils if it held data on the breeds involved in attacks on people, animals and those reported for aggressive behaviour.
Of the nine councils able to provide the information, eight recorded collie or sheepdog breeds as being regularly reported to council officers for either attacks or aggressive behaviour in 2023.
German shepherds – which are on the restricted breed list – were the second most commonly reported breed involved in recorded incidents.
However, a large number reported were not on the official restricted dogs list, including small dogs such as Bichon Frises.
Nanci Creedon, a dog behaviourist who works throughout Ireland and the UK, believes that the problem does not lie with the breeds, but with the increasing numbers of dogs and their owner’s lack of experience.
“I do think that the number of dogs that we have amplifies what’s going on… we have a whole population of animal lovers who do not understand how dogs work,” she told Noteworthy.
So, because we have more dog owners and more dogs, and because the general public don’t really have a proper understanding about how dogs function.
“And in some situations that can be a recipe for disaster, especially when children and dogs are involved.”
Creedon, who works regularly with dogs involved in biting and aggressive behaviour, said ideally, those wishing to own a dog should have to sit a driving theory type test before taking on the commitment.
“I believe that with just the smallest bit of time and effort put into watching webinars and reading the manual, it would change how people look at dogs very, very quickly,” she said.
“And with that change will come a better understanding and with a better understanding will come more bite prevention.
“I believe that the issue with dog lovers – myself included – don’t fully understand how dogs learn, their thinking, and how they form associations.
“And then the increase in volume of pet dogs across Ireland is inevitable to increase the number of bites which again, almost always happens out of miscommunication and misunderstanding from the human side.”
Although some of the blame for the rising dog bites and attacks has been placed on so-called ‘pandemic puppies’ – dogs purchased during lockdown – a study published this week shows incidents have been climbing prior to 2020.
Research carried out by the Department of Agriculture, University of Limerick (UL) and National Health Intelligence Unit shows hospital admissions for dog bites soared by more than 50% in a decade.
Of the 3,158 patients receiving treatment between 2012 and 2021, over 1,200 were children bitten by dogs.
The study, published in December’s Irish Medical Journal, emphasised the importance of improving dog control legislation and enforcement and of developing effective policies to reduce risk and protect the public, its authors said.
The findings come less than a month after a raft of stricter dog control regulations were announced by Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys.
Speaking to Noteworthy, Dr Páraic Ó Súilleabháin, a co-author of the dog bite study, said he believed that in its current form, he did not believe the stricter regulations are enough to tackle the rising cases.
“Although I am aware that a number of working groups are addressing various aspects of this legislation,” he said.
From my view more broadly, people thinking that dog bite risk is related to what a dog looks like is a real problem.
“Government policy then reinforcing that with regulations compounds the problem.”
Ó Súilleabháin said this “filters down to how people perceive risk” from dogs and as a result how they interact with all dogs day-to-day.
It can also lead to the stereotyping of different breeds of dogs – those considered friendly or dangerous, he said. “This has long been a major concern of international organisations, such as the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe and so many others.”
The UL professor said the problem is less “about a specific group of dogs, and more about all dogs”.
Ó Súilleabháin suggested if restrictions on specific dog breeds were removed and replaced with the possibility of restrictions on any dog – which could be removed following training – it could help the problem.
He added: “(If) dog control is given enough resources for them to enforce restrictions, and evidence-based dog training provided freely in social disadvantaged areas, the rate of dog bite hospitalisations would come down.”
“This isn’t a controversial opinion that me or others have plucked from thin air, it’s literally the conclusions of all reputable international organisations.”
A spate of serious maulings – including that on nine-year-old Wexford boy Alejandro Mizsan in November 2022 – spurred the government on to tighten dog regulations.
While the move has been welcomed by many, some victims – whose lives have been forever changed as a result of a dog attack – are reluctant to believe it will make a change.
Jackie* was attacked by a pitbull type dog close to her south Dublin home in July 2022. She had been walking her own dog when the animal set upon her pet, before turning its attention to her.
“The dog ripped my ankle apart and then got me on the ground,” she told Noteworthy. “It then went for my left calf and it just sank its teeth in. Luckily enough, my boyfriend was home… and he heard a commotion on the street.”
Jackie’s boyfriend rushed out and was able to rescue her and their dog, but only after prying open the jaws of the attacking dog from his girlfriend’s leg.
Her injuries were so serious, she had to be attended to by both the fire brigade and ambulance before being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery.
After spending 3 days in hospital, Jackie was discharged – but her nightmare was only just beginning.
“At home my left leg began to swell up and I went back to hospital where I at sat there for another 24 hours while they figured out what’s wrong with me.
They couldn’t figure it if I had a terrible infection or blood clot, and it turned out I had both.
Jackie was admitted to hospital for a further three weeks, where she constantly feared she would die. Eighteen months on, she is still suffering the physical and mental impact of the attack.
“I’m left with permanent nerve damage and significant physical scarring,” she said. “I have an upcoming nerve surgery in early 2024 and potentially reconstructive aesthetic surgery thereafter to rebuild my calf.
“Before this, I was fit and healthy, I would run, I would box, and now I don’t do any of that anymore because I have been so scared for the last 18 months to leave the house.”
The psychological impact of the attack led to Jackie being placed on antidepressant medication. She has also received counselling. Sadly, the 38 year-old felt she had no option but to move away from the area due to the constant triggers and reminders of the attack.
I’ve gone through hell, there were several points where I had reasonable cause to think I would die.
“I’ve spent thousands of euros on prescriptions, specialists, physiotherapy and counselling and will end up spending even more on surgery and there’s basically no tangible legal recourse as the dog owner has no insurance.”
The dog involved in the attack on Jackie was seized and later destroyed and the owner is facing criminal proceedings currently going through the courts. However, Jackie said little can repair the life-changing damage the attack caused.
“I’m angry at the state of legislation with respect to these attacks,” she said. “I have physical scars and I’m seriously out of pocket, but more significant to me is that
“I’m left with all the trauma and consequences for what happened to me.
“The lack of action against the dog owner just compounds the emotional trauma – they got to go back to their everyday life with no repercussions but I’ll have to cope with this for the rest of my life and that is simply not reflected in legislation.
“All of the burden is on the victims and that’s simply not right.”
In the course of our Off Leash investigation, Noteworthy found that in some cases similar serious dog attacks involving people and their pets, did not result in action being taken against the dog’s owner.
In August, Amelia*, a software developer from Stillorgan, was walking her Ragdoll cat Lockie on a leash close to the apartment she shares with her boyfriend.
As she walked, her cat was set upon by a boxer dog before it attacked her. The animal – which was in the control of a young girl – mauled Amelia’s arm and leg.
After managing to break free and hide in a nearby garden, Amelia had to seek hospital treatment for deep puncture wounds. She reported the incident to both gardaí and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, but she received a mixed response to the frightening attack.
Amelia told Noteworthy: “The dog warden told me that it is a matter for the garda and then the garda told me it is a matter for the council.”
Almost four months later, Amelia says no action has been taken against the dog owners, despite the seriousness of the attack. Meanwhile, she remains afraid to walk outside her home for fear off being attacked again.
It is disheartening to realise that if such an attack happened again, the perpetrators can walk free because the guards don’t seem to have time.
She also said that “the dog can walk free because the dog wardens are closed during weekends which is when the attack happened”.
“It is ridiculous that it is unclear, even for the governmental agencies, who to report such incidents to”. She added that the gardaí say dog wardens, dog wardens say gardaí and “the HSE says both”.
“Yet, we still haven’t been fully heard or helped, and meanwhile I am terrified of going to work in the mornings as I have to pass the place where the dog lives.”
When approached about Amelia’s cases, a Dún Laughaire-Rathdown County Council spokesperson said: “We do not comment on individual cases, however, a dog attack on a person is a matter for An Garda Síochána and should be reported directly to them.
“In the event that an attack is also reported to our offices, our dog warden will carry out a licence check in the area and remind all dog owners of their responsibilities under the Control of Dogs Act.”
A gardaí spokesperson said it was continuing to investigate the incident.
*Names have been changed.
Read more articles in this series >>
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This was originally published by Noteworthy, the investigative unit of The Journal, now known as The Journal Investigates.
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The destruction of ireland continues
@jiminybillybob: Yep. The state of Lough Neagh, our rivers, freshwater mussels as rare as hens teeth, ever increasing invasive species.
@jiminybillybob: The tactics of the IFA and other farming organisations are little different from those of the DUP: science-free, self-defeating and in no way willing to compromise. Like the DUP’s approach in the North, this approach is indeed destructive.
@jiminybillybob: Absolutely need to get out of that CULT
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: if only fish and other marine life could approach Varadkar and tell them what they think should happen with their habitat. Things that still run this country EU, politics, IFA, church ( yes the church still has a say unfortunately )
@jiminybillybob: i think you all misunderstood me. It’s the eu that wants the destruction of Irish agricultural sector. Just like the fisheries.
But yeah let’s get rid of all farms and herds so we can be completely dependant on other countries for food.
Lets sell it all.
@jiminybillybob: Is it naturall produced nitrates they used or sythetic ones that are being flushed into rivers and lakes causing fish kills??
If it is synthetic then shouldnt there be a move away from them anyway to a more naturaly produced ones.
Do you know if alot of farmers these days use crop rotation to naturally regenerate the ground without the used of synthetic chemicals?
Legit question BTW.
The piece says: “Lombard added: “I am a dairy farmer… and I have only one way of meeting my targets. So, forgive me for being blunt here, but this affects my livelihood.””
Why is this full-time, publicly-paid Senator even allowed at this meeting? There is an obvious conflict of interest which he himself admits.
Basically, farmers are saying we want to continue to pollute more than everyone else. They’ve had a derogation. The data shows that the mitigation measures haven’t worked.
@Kevin Farrell: I sent an e mail to this guy. The Gardaí came to my house “with advice”.
@Gavan Hogan: If you believe in what you emailed, please share with the group om sureties delightful!
Thousands of cows are slaughtered every week for the beef industry anyways, don’t be under the impression any of these protests are for animal welfare.
Cattle farming is incredibly bad for the environment, in every sense. If you combine every other type of farming (poultry/lamb/pork etc) and put them all together they still don’t even come close to the emissions/land/water usage that cattle requires. The industry has to either clean up it’s act or else reduce its herd size.
I know I’ll be bombarded now with “it’s better than beef from Brazil/New Zealand” etc, which I agree with, we shouldn’t ever be importing, but in reality we need to drastically cut down our beef consumption anyways. And no, I’m not a vegetarian/vegan.
@ChrisF: is that why for 1000s of year, the crop rotation for wheat farmers was year 1 Wheat, year 2 wheat, year 3 Grass gazed by cattle. The reason was to rest the land and use cows to fertilize it. You know growing crops is terrible for land. WHY?
Ploughing land breaks down the soil, on a wet day like today you will have lots of water run off, brown water which removes the nutrients which then flows into rivers. You won’t have this in a grass field because the vegetation holds the soil structure. Grasslands store more carbon that tillage fields. Even ploughing a tillage field releases carbon from the soil. Tillage farmers use a lot of round up and other pesticides and insecticides. This isn’t good for the animals, the land, the soil or the people. A tillage field is a monoculture where all the diversity is killed.
Its best to do regative agriculture. But you will never hear anyone mention this because there are too many agendas. Maybe just maybe we ban private jets because this will help the planet overnight. In a single trip a plane will burn 100,000L of jet fuel. But no the people who create our food are the problem.
@Washpenrebel: How do you get from wheat (year 2) to grass (year 3)???
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: You are on here preaching to the farming community how things should be done, but to quote Clair Byrne. You haven’t got a clue
@Washpenrebel: I am no expert but I have no doubt that the scientific/ ag specialists were the real experts who made this decision. The farming community increased the size of the national herd by, I think 1.5million in recent years, so don’t tell me that they didn’t know this was coming and yet were more than prepared to contaminate drinking water than to plan for the future. Even now the ‘ current derogation is due to end in 2026 and they won’t even plan for that by reducing now. Water is used in nearly every stage of food processing and given the amount of bacteria it carries, ye could potentially end up contaminating the food supply, all because of your short term greed. We have seen the consequences of foot and mouth disease and we already have water supply difficulties and ye want to impose greater hardships on us.Just think of a baby drinking contaminated water and the effect that has on its immune system.
@ChrisF: maybe us humans as herd size needs to be reduced. It’s awful to say but we are over 2 billion people too many in this world. People especially in the developed world are too energy dependent. The world will be ok but we won’t, it’ll find a way to spit us out..
@ChrisF: you know nothing about farming either. As most of carbon emissions from cattle is co2 from simply breathing, and guess what! Grass takes in co2 in photosynthesis (growing)
@BarryH: Sorry to burst your bubble but you are wrong. Ireland’s national herd has decreased by half a million since 2002. You have no idea what you are talking about. According to the DAFM’s Animal Identification and Movement System (AIMS) report, on December 31, 2002, there were 7,074,033 cattle in Ireland. As of December 31, 2022, 20 years later, there were 6,504,599 cattle in Ireland. The rest of your comment is nonsense. Ireland accounts for a huge amount of the worlds baby food. IE Milk. The recent shortage in the US saw the US army come here to secure it. We have the best quality milk in the world because of our high standard and because our cows are predominantly grass fed. IE Irish butter is yellow because of the grass. The butter used in other countries is white because cows are mainly indoors on a grain fed diet. Please do some research before you spout nonsense.
@Brendan Godley: No. Will the stubble be left there? Will it be ploughed/harrowed before re-seeding with grass? Will more fertiliser be put on after sowing? It’s not as simple as you make it sound, is it?
@Washpenrebel: A 737 has a fuel capacity of 17000 litres….
These comments reek of desperation. The Irish farming sector was given an exemption, to the detriment of the environment. This was the most liberal exemption of the three countries that were given one. We will still keep this exemption, but it will be curtailed by a small amount for a relatively small number of farmers (2% of all farmers). Now they pretend the sky is falling in. The tactics of Irish farming reps are increasingly like those of the DUP: science-free and in no way willing to compromise.
@Name not provided:
13% of farms in Ireland are dairy, plus the tillage sector completely depends on the dairy sector to buy it’s produce.
(And no, they can’t change to growing vegetables as they are completely uneconomical at world market price.)
@P.J. Nolan: don’t cod yourself the dairy industry buys it’s animal feed from Irish tillage farmers. Look at Cork port importing animal feeds from all over the world.
@P.J. Nolan: It’s only a small number of those farms that benefit from the 250kg/ha derogation (which no other EU country benefits from btw). The 220kg/ha will be still in place for now. Bear in mind that the normal limit for nitrogen loading is 170kg/ha. The Commission looked at the data on our ever-worsening waterway pollution and said that this extremely generous exemption should be somewhat curtailed.
@Thomas Hayes:
Who do you think buys it?
Of course they will import it if they can get it cheaper but that’s an argument about the price, doesn’t change the fact that the vast bulk of the grains grown in Ireland are used for animal feed with dairy cows being the bulk of that.
@Name not provided:
8000 dairy farmers applied for a nitrates derogation last year, add in tillage sector affected by a reduction you are probably in the region of 8% to 10% of farmers in total.
@P.J. Nolan: if they cannot make a profit in farming without destroying the environment then they need to change occupation.
@P.J. Nolan: 6000 farmers benefit from the derogation, but only 3000 benefit from the 250kg/ha derogation. This will be the number that will be directly affected as they will have to bring their stocking rate down to comply with the 220kg/ha derogation (about 2% of all farmers, 16% of dairy farmers). Incidentally, these are the most profitable farmers in the country.
Farmers campaigned for years to get the milk quotas lifted and there were celebrations all round when these were finally lifted in 2015. Once they were lifted farmers borrowed to increase the size of their herds. With all that extra milk coming to market the price of milk has fallen drastically in recent years. And now they have to reduce their herd sizes so it has come full circle.
@Harry Whelks
Looks to me like you are adjusting ‘facts’ to suit you agenda.
A simple Google search shows milk prices are 40% higher today than 2015, went from 25c to 35c.
To be fair costs have risen too.
Last year was a record high for milk prices, went well over 50c so the last 12 months has shown a significant drop.
@Harry Whelks: you do know that it was the dept of agriculture partnered with Irish banks along with the low prices tillage farmers were getting paid that pushed farmers into milk and more cows. They didn’t think this up themselves. Tillage farmers profits have never been good. Supermarkets are constantly imported vegs from overseas to drive down the prices paid here. Some even import UK potatoes, package them here and sell them as Irish potatoes to screw farmers here.
We used to have a very profitable sugar beet industry here that was destroyed by our own government. All the factories shut down to allow cheaper cane sugar to come in from South America. Farmers used to have diverse farms, ie cows, sheep, grain, beet ect. The govt pushed them away from this model into dairy only. It happened in the 80s and 90s.
We have the farming landscape here because of policy driven by successive governments, it was not farmers that got us here.
Time to move on farmers.You are not going to win this one.The IFA trying to placate the few big boys at the top table.Think of the future generations who will appreciate our cleaner lakes and rivers.
@Willie Marty: hmm yeah the future generation who won’t own their own property but will have to pay exorbitantly high rents to the same global conglomerates who will control the property / land banks and the food supply ( and pricing ) into Ireland by then …but hey the rivers will be cleaner ….( or will they ? )
@Dave Hammond: the rivers will be cleaner when the few big farmers earning over £140k+ stop over spreading fertilizer
It’s actually hilarious that a sector that slaughters animals uses “animals will be slaughtered” as an argument.
They even slaughter calves at a couple of weeks old because they are not profitable to feed, especially jersey calves…so money trumps everything over animals and environment
@hi from heaven: since that is completely against the law, I’m calling you out as a liar. It is spoofers of your ilk that spread all this populist raiméis, and give an industry a bad name. If you want to come at agriculture, there are plenty areas which you could highlight. Instead, you choose to tell lies. Not the sharpest tool in the box. Do you lick windows in your spare time?
@Joe Mckenna: it was literally on prime time a month or 2 ago
@hi from heaven: unwanted human babies in the womb are killed at under 12 weeks
@P. V. Aglue: Wombs don’t contain babies. The first 2 weeks after conception are known as the ‘germinal’ stage, the 3rd through the 8th week is known as the ‘embryonic’ period, and the time from the 9th week until birth is known as the ‘foetal’ period. After birth: ‘Babies’.
@Tom Dillon: Sorry Tom if you murder a pregnant woman you will kill her and her unborn baby. Its still a baby.
@Damien Leahy: You wouldn’t happen to be talking about the veal industry in Holland, Spain, and Poland by any chance? Last I looked, none of those were in ireland….
How about just ignore the EU? If Hungary and Poland can do it on fundamental rights, Ireland can do it on a few nitrates right?
@Steven Schulz: Ignore the EU and do what’s right and bring it down below 220/ha, I think you might be on to something.
To all the self appointed environmentalists rabbiting on about water quality and farming on here, 80% of all the nitrates that end up in our water systems are put in by the STATE through our archaic water and sewage treatment plants. Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good hammering on the people that provide our food. The govt is lying about farmers carbon footprint, lying about cows effect on the environment and now lying again about farmers destroying water quality. And the amount of paid subscribers on here pushing this 5hite is nothing short of disgraceful.
@Michael McGrath: I would welcome any proof or link supporting your comment, otherwise it’s just a rant.
@Michael McGrath: your spot on. There is a million less cattle in the country than 1980. There’s probably 10 billion gallons more slurry storage than 1980. The calendar farming rules accually increase the risk of field run off contaminating water courses. Growing grass and hedgerows takes up the co2 from the cattle. The human population of Ireland is up 2million since 1980, none of sewage plants in villages have been upgraded enough to cope.
@Michael McGrath: No harm for someone to tell the truth. But there really is no talking to the robes and sandals zealots. County councils are openly acknowledged as the biggest polluters, followed by manufacturing and transport. Agriculture is way down the list. But the velvet eared woke brigade will not countenance anything which may affect their comfort.
Oat milk tastes much nicer and creamier than dairy milk. Not a vegan btw, just prefer the flavour. Healthier too.
@ASC: It really doesn’t. But you do you.
@ASC: I like the half-and-half: half oat (for the nutty flavour), half dairy for the texture. If this was on the shelves ready-made, I’d buy it
@ASC: you do know its full of sugar!!!
@ASC: One cup of oat milk contains around seven grams of added sugars. Some brands use artificial fillers and preservatives, which can have adverse health effects.
@ASC: Black tea/coffee is the way to go lads. Anyone adding any kind of milk is basically an oversized baby
@ASC: the emulsifiers in it are not.
When last did this government make a decision to make farmers lives easier. We have rules in this country set out by the dept of agriculture that aren’t enforced anywhere else in Europe. They love to be the best boy in the class. Yet the have not once gone after the supermarkets or the barron meat processor over the monopoly that they hold. For example the meat factories know how many cattle are in this country and what age they are. They then use this data to screw farmers by dropping prices. Farmers work 60 to 70 hours a week and as a reward the government makes their lives harder. We have the best food in Europe, but farmers are going to walk away unless things improve. The average age of farmers is 50/60 with young people refusing to enter the profession as its just not worth it.
There’s fields around me with a lot more than 3 cows to the hectare.
@Peter Boyle:
At the height of the summer there could be 5 or more per hectare
But how many are on the fields where he cuts silage?
None.
It’s called an average.
They spray the cereals with roundup before harvest to make it EASIER to harvest….. EASIER to harvest not essential
It’s EU’s fault.
The new FFG line…
For when suits and against when not..
Sad
@Davy:
Find a politician anywhere in the world who doesn’t do the same, blame someone else when it goes wrong, hog the praise when it does
I smell a subsidy coming. So do the farmers (obviously).
Poorer, Colder, Hungrier – Go green, Go Woke, Go Broke
@ForYourSafety:
“Irish households spent 8% of their budgets on food in 2021, which is below the EU average of 14%, according to Eurostat.”
We might/do get fleeced on housing and other stuff, but FOOD seems to be not one of them.
Farmers get subsidies to keep food prices low (fair enough).
They dump the cow poo and fertilizer on the fields. The tax payer than does pay to remove the sh*t, in this case nitrate, phosphor and other stuff from the drinking water, paying again.
Farming is a business today and has been for decades.
I don’t think it’s asked too much to reduce the impact of a business it has to the environment, to avoid the cost and impact for the public.
Other EU countries do and try to do it.
Ireland is too often ignoring environmental directive (Ireland did agree on), asking for more and more exemptions, without getting often much done.
The farmers did well know for years what is about to come, gambled by increasing the herd and took the profits. That’s all fair and square.
But now, the bell tolls, they knew it will come and they still complain.
Your “Go Green” has zero to do with this one.
I have no relation with a farmer this days, but if my above is wrong, feel free to educate me (with facts and links ;-)).
Farmers with their slurry have decimated Irish rivers, streams & lakes greatly diminishing fish stokes by starving the waterways of oxygen. This has been a serious issue since the 90s and fair play to the E.U here because the incompetent useless governments we have endured couldn’t care less.
@Gary: If you look at half of comments here, you’re wasting your breath.
It’s all a big conspiracy, the bad EU and the attack of “The Greens” on the farmers/rural Ireland. Everyone saying different is a paid EU/government/Green shill.
It’s astonishing that people can post stuff, but not spend 5 minutes to look for numbers actually supporting or disapproving their point.
@Gary: You do know that recently Irish water have been the main reason for sewage getting into rivers, lakes and the sea. We have a big problem in this country with water treatment from houses. Farmers pumping slurry in waterways has by and large been stopped. There are huge fines and penalties. And you do know that slurry is really good for the soil. The worms love it and it makes everything grow. You’re comment makes it seem like its toxic. Its not. Peat free compost is slurry with the water removed.
They’d be slaughered anyway
@IPAS Conman:
From the CSO: “The number of dairy cows increased by over 29% in the period 2013 to 2019″.
I doubt there will be any milk shortage soon.
Still not getting my vote.
So the poisoning of our drinking water is to continue!
Nice break from the constant banging sound of rock-breakers with the farmers away protesting. Every cloud has a silver lining.
If there was only some way we could grow grass in this country…
Ffg selling out future generations for a few votes . You’d meet people with more integrity in any irsh prison
Irish farmers need to stop bitching and get on with their EU overlords command.
@Gertrude Gilmore: after all their getting enough subsidies from them!
Michael McGrath…Self appointed environmentalistds… just wondering where did you get your engineering, mathematical and science degree from..(80% of all nitrates is from old sewage systems) I hope you didn’t get them by self appointing them to yourself
Michael McGrath the government is lying.. Europe is lying… the scientists are lying
Irish farmers cows are well mannered and don’t even fart.
@hi from heaven: Yeah, I just had a quick Google and it’s going back for decades.
From the Independent, 22 years ago:
“Statistics show that agriculture accounts for 65m tonnes of waste each year representing over 80pc of the country’s total”.
Plenty of other sources, but of course, according to Michael, all paid and in the pockets of the big bad EU and part of the global/European conspiracy….
I gave up red meat when I read about the increased chance of getting cancer, and I am cutting back on dairy, because of the damage it does to the environment.
@mon: make sure your milk is organic anyways.
@mon: it won’t help you. You’ll get it off your phone
Joe McKenna…I said a couple of weeks, probably should have been more exact.. they can kill the calf at 8 weeks old and they do.. what a fulfilling life the calf had at that stage…
It is to save money that they are killed at this age
@hi from heaven: There is no veal industry in ireland. What is so difficult about that?
There would be no problem if the Goddam farmers would stop allowing fertilizers to pollute our rivers.
Just who produces the food you eat,think about it before posting stupid uneducated comments just to sound like Nob who doesn’t know where ur crap goes when u flush the toilet it goes straight in to the nearest river but that’s fine isn’t it. When farmers are gone which they will in the next 20 years they will not be able to be blamed for everything. Irish farmers produce the best food ,if farmers are not able to make a good wage you will be hungry,naked and sober NO FARMERS NO FOOD
Unfortunate that the EU agreed to take all Ukrainian grain thus undermining the EU market price, supported by most governments, as a way to alleviate Russian control over world markets. An obvious geopolitical intervention but the IFA decided the 2% who produce more slurry than there ground can possibly utilise are the ones to make a stand about. 98% of farmers think this is ridiculous.
We got a few million from the EU but gave away everything in return . Thanks FFG for literally destroying our country
Get orf moi land…
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