Are we facing an Ireland without Farming

In a time when the population of the Irish state and the world is at its highest ever, it would be expected that food production in Ireland would never be more important economically or more attractive as a profession. But the truth is that farming is in a deep crisis due to a national and global economic system that could lead to its disappearance in a country where it has shaped society and all aspects of life for nearly 6000 years.

At present 80% of Ireland's food consumed is imported, only 4% of Ireland's working population are farmers (compared to approximately 25% when we joined what is now the EU in 1973), only 4.5% of farmers are under 35 years of age, two thirds of animal feed is imported, and c98% of tillage farming in Ireland relies on some form of chemical pesticide. By definition pesticides- the word comes from the Latin (Ancient Roman) pestis (plague) and caedere (kill)- are substances used to kill plant or animal life that are considered to be 'pests'. As soils are living entities comprising multiple organisms as well as weathered rock and mineral particles, water, air and decayed organic matter, the use of pesticides can degrade soil health, dramatically reduce biodiversity, and leave toxic residues.

This soil degradation combined with the fact that today only 5% of agricultural land in Ireland is farmed organically means that the long-term viability of farming as a career and as a key part of the national economy is at its lowest ever in our country's history.

The facts are that the Irish population primarily get their food from growers based outside Ireland. These foreign-based producers provide food that is cheap and therefore attractive to Irish consumers.
But we have got to remember that anything that is 'cheap' comes at a great cost to both the majority of farmers in these countries as well as to the planet.

But at this month's Ploughing Championships, I saw the greenshoots for an industry and a way of life that gives hope for a future based on economic sustainability, agroecology and food sovereignty which in many ways represents positive aspects of an Ireland that I grew up in.

For instance, the promotion of silviculture (tree farming) to benefit biodiversity and act as a source of building materials in order to provide a high economic return for farmers shows that both can be obtainable. This was demonstrated at the Teagasc Forestry stand and discussed by Sarah Keating, RDS Agriculture & Rural Affairs Programme Manager, and Michael O’Neill, winner of the 2026 RDS Silvicultural Excellence Award on the panel I was part of, namely “Land Use, Sustainability & Forestry that took place in the Irish Farmers Journal Tent. I myself talked about the importance of bringing nature and farming back into our cities by developing neighbourhood organic food gardens and in creating habitats for wildlife such as meadows, wetlands and woodlands. 

 There were stands at the Ploughing Championships on organic dairy farming, organic beef farming, agroecology ('Talamh Beo' = Living Ground), high quality organic foodstuffs such as Glenisk yogurts and Flavahans porridge as well as displays of a healthy range of small scale local producers, Soil Worx natural fertilisers, Seedsavers who are renowned for protecting and selling ancient varieties of food plants, and the Irish government's own “We're Talking Climate Action” tent.

I was also very impressed to see hemp growers at the event. Hemp from time immemorial was used to make the sails and rigging for wind-powered ships and today has multiple uses such as in the provision of sustainable textiles, eco-friendly building materials, nutritious foods and biodegradable bioplastics.
Likewise I was glad to see sheep farmers as active participants. Of course sheep grazing has to be controlled/fenced off in order to protect to protect woodlands etc. A much maligned sector of farming, it has to be remembered a sheep annually gives the wool which was the mainstay of Irish clothing until recent times. Sheep can do so again, helping to provide a necessary viable long term alternative to the environmental destructive micro-plastic 'fast fashion' clothing. Wool also has other beneficial uses such as for bedding, home insulation, ropes used in shellfish farming, mulch for gardening, and eco-friendly materials. A small first but critical step would be to establish commercial facilities for scouring sheep's wool.

What was missing at the Ploughing Championships though was any demonstration or reference to paludiculture, namely the practice of growing crops and trees on wet or re-wetted peatlands to produce usable biomass, food crops or other agro products while keeping the soil waterlogged to lock in carbon. This is a type of farming that my good friend Niall O Brolchain and team at Rinn AI University of Galway are involved in as researchers whilst working also with farmers to restore peatlands with the planting of Sphagnum Moss.

On a strategic level, the Irish government and the EU need to 'step up to the plate' and create a true Circular Economy in Ireland across Europe by incentivizing organic farming and placing barriers on cheap agricultural and plastic products that are bringing ruination to the planet.

Mayor Helen Ogbu and councillors invited to Terryland Forest Park for a fact-finding mission this Saturday.

Text of letter below sent by the Tuatha volunteers of Terryland Forest Park earlier this month to city councillors:

"The purpose of this visit is to give councilors a guided walk through the park to outline the wonderful range of current and future green developments being planned for Ireland's original community-based Urban Native Woodland by both volunteers and city council working together but also to bring to your attention a number of serious problems that need to be tackled as a matter of urgency, including probably through the introduction of new bye-laws, if this wonderful green resource for Galway city is to fulfill its full potential in providing a safe nature park for the city's population fo all ages as well as a critical urban sanctuary for Ireland's native biodiversity.

Over the last few years the Terryland Forest Park has won local, national and international awards and accolades due to an active, visionary and respectful collaboration between city council and our volunteers, which has helped gain for Galway city a reputation for protecting its biodiversity and natural environment.

This recognition includes:

All-island of Ireland Pride of Place Award (Cities Creative Place category) in 2022
An Taisce Community Green Flag in 2024 and 2025
Galway City Mayor’s Award 2025 (Environmental & Sustainability category)
RDS Forest & Woodland Award 2026 (Community Woodland category).

As President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins praised the park many times, including during a visit last year (see photo) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its foundation, for its pioneering success in bringing nature back into an urban environment, and for acting as a template for other Irish cities to emulate.

Terryland Forest Park is proudly promoted by its supporters as an Outdoor Classroom, an Outdoor Lab, an Outdoor Gym, an Outdoor Arts space and a Biodiversity sanctuary in the heart of a busy city. It also regularly hosts events for the general public. For instance, on June 21st last, the Tuatha organised a highly successful Sunday Family Picnic Day that attracted over 360 participants and was part of Galway City Council’s Climate Action Week 2026 programme.

The Tuatha members willingly, freely and unselfishly have given their time, ideas and energies every week over many years to keep the park clean, provide guided tours for visiting groups and undertake an array of important conservation projects in partnership with Galway City Council including annual community tree/flower planting days.

Furthermore, we will over the next few weeks be bringing a new people-centric dimension to the park by launching an exciting 2026/2027 programme of events and activities for schools, communities, workplaces and the general public that includes educational and heritage trail walks, Sunday picnics, family days, community plantings, tree sapling harvesting, invasive species removal, farming, field trips, guided walks, art workshops, slow food days and citizen science initiatives. We are also having fruitful discussions with city council personnel about dedicating specific suitable meadows within the park for kite flying, tai chi exercises, old style wooden gaming for children, nature painting exhibitions as well as in the possibility of introducing boules.

All year round, our weekly volunteering days provide wonderful opportunities for university students, companies and tourists to engage in worthwhile conservation activities in a park which is, thanks to the combined efforts of volunteers and council staff, now home to thousands of flora, fauna, fungi and microorganisms.

Over its 26 years it has dramatically changed the physical landscape of the city and will hopefully in the not-too-distant future connect into the Connemara Greenway and a network of trails leading into east Galway.

Known officially as the 'Green Lungs of the City', it has also since its inception involved tens of thousands of citizens of all ages in tackling the interlinked Climate and Biodiversity Crises. Their voluntary work can be valued in millions of euro, as the park has acted as a major natural 'carbon sink' and in filtering out harmful airborne gases/particulates through the planting of trees and wildflowers. Volunteers have also saved the city tens of thousands of euro over the years through weekly activities such as litter-picking.

However we are gravely concerned at a number of issues that have been appearing recently in the park which are undermining public safety and the park's fragile biodiversity as well as sapping the morale of our fantastic volunteers. These include an upsurge in anti-social activity within certain areas of the park which is eliminating habitats, deliberately destroying public property such as fencing and in uprooting the trees that the people of Galway of all ages planted over the decades. There is also a dramatic rise in silt and vegetation across the Terryland River that is decreasing water flow and as a home for aquatic wildlife. We are also worried about the lack of progress in installing pedestrian road crossings connecting sections of the park."

Trump is a Threat to Life on Planet Earth

 

Over many decades, I have participated in public protests against injustices committed by governments across the world including those perpetuated by the Soviets in Afghanistan, the Chinese in Tibet, the British in Northern Ireland, the Turks in Syria, the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Russians in Ukraine, the Israelis in Lebanon and Palestine, and the US government in Iraq, Central America and Afghanistan.

But the actions of Trump far exceeds the evil of many of these regimes as his administration has armed the forces of genocide and has put all forms of life on planet Earth at risk.

All ages, All creeds, All professions together against Trump.
So I proudly took part earlier this month in a 10,000 strong crowd of all ages marching through the streets of Dublin against the presence of Trump in our country. Their banners signified their presence as Christians, as medical professionals, as legal professionals, as environmentalists, as academics, as community workers, as scientists... who are all opposed to a political leader that enables Israel to openly commit genocide, befriends politicians such as Netanyahu and Putin who are wanted by international courts for war crimes, threatens to obliterate one of the world’s oldest civilizations, is weaponizing Outer Space, has started to attack and take control of countries in order to steal their national resources, wants to stop any regulation on a technology that its own creators warn could destroy humanity if left unchecked and threatens those countries that bring in such regulations, who has been found by US courts to have sexually abused a female, and who has been convicted as a felon as a result of his business dealings.

The False Prophet
Trump often portrays himself as Christ-like figure and “the chosen one” anointed by God, promotes a AI video of himself sunning on a beach in Gaza alongside Netanyahu with a golden statue (shades of the biblical 'Golden Calf') of himself on a nearby street whilst in the real world tens of thousands of its population were been murdered with high tech US weaponry. He breaks most of the Ten Commandants (Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, covet, bear false witness against thy neighbour...) whilst professing to be a righteous Christian. Trump deliberately overlooks a key trait of Jesus Christ, namely that he was a pacifist, who preached that one should “love thy neighbour as thyself.”

“L'État, c'est moi” (“I am the state”)
Surrounding himself with a court full of sycophants, Trump is encouraged to become even more narcissistic, nasty, greedy, a serial liar and allowed to act as if he is above the law. He deliberately insults women, the disabled, people of different religion and ethnicity, and who like the autocratic emperors of old wants to tear down and rebuild in imperial grandeur public places that are then named in his honour. Out of fear, his threats and bullying are too often placated with expensive luxurious gifts, resources and treaties that enrich his family, humiliates the giver and translates as loss of sovereignty to so many countries.

Burn, Baby, Burn!
This year's summer has been the hottest on record in Ireland and on continental Europe. Across the globe, the weather patterns have gone awry with wildfires, droughts, flooding, glacier meltdown caused by the rise in airborne greenhouse gases.
Earth is the only planet in the Universe we know that sustains life, made possible by a delicate equilibrium of gases that make up its atmosphere and which took billions of years to form. Now this fragile balance is being undermined by a dramatic rise in carbon dioxide and methane due to the burning of fossil fuels that are being promoted by Trump's policy of “Drill, Baby, Drill” which translates as “Burn, Baby, Burn.” His roll-back of environmental regulations in order to expand U.S. fossil fuel production, increase its fuel exports to other countries and make global energy deals is putting all of humanity and all forms of life at risk.

Anti-Life
Trump's contempt of biodiversity is well known as shown by his family's pleasure in the killing for fun of wild animals in America, Africa and Asia such as bear, elephant, leopard, buffalo, crocodile; the opening up of marine and land habitats to oil drilling and his move to dismantle key protections for US endangered species which is putting the survival of over 1500 species of American flora and fauna such as wolves, whales and ancient forests at risk.

An Enemy of the Law
Trump's regime has declared war against those genuine humanitarians who are trying to enforce international human rights legislation designed to protect victims of oppression. His political and financial undermining of the United Nations, whilst simultaneously arming the oppressors, has devastated communities in many of the countries across Africa and the Middle East that I have worked with. His political and environmental actions and those of his allies are designed to force millions of peoples from their homelands and create an unprecedented refugee crisis that will destabilise the whole world

Making America Weak
As someone who loves so much about the United States and what it has given to the world over the decades in the arts, in environmental protection, in human rights and in science and technology, I can honestly say that Trump's personal greed and insatiable appetite for power as he tries to create an imperial Americana is weakening the respect of many for his country. His wars are causing misery across all continents. As with its staunchest ally Israel, the USA is becoming a pariah nation under his watch.

To use Oscar Wilde's words: “Trump is a man that knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”

It was great to listen to an inspiring speech on stage from our very own Michelle Clarke on behalf of Tonn na Clé and to be part of a strong Galway contingent in Dublin.
But it was a particular joyous feeling to protest alongside Jackie O'Dowd and Grainne McMorrow (see photo left), we first started protesting together in 1979 during our radical Galway student days! And we are still at it!

Don't Sully our Green Standing Now

Call for greater investment in green spaces after city park wins another major national environmental award

Many thanks to the Galway City Tribune for the extensive coverage earlier this month of the success of Terryland Forest Park in winning the RDS national Community Woodland Award, one of many accolades we have won which has helped earn Galway city a reputation for protecting its biodiversity and natural environment. See photo.

The Tuatha volunteers and the parks staff of City Hall working together have indeed a lot to be proud of in developing the forest park over many years as an Outdoor Classroom, Outdoor Lab, Outdoor Gym, as a eco-tourism destination, as a major 'carbon sink' and as an urban wildlife sanctuary.

But we had to use the opportunity of the media exposure to highlight our deep concerns over the deterioration now being experienced in biodiversity protection not just in Terryland but also in Shantalla and Merlin Woods.

It is not something that we ever expected to happen.

For in November our Tuatha volunteers along with other local environmental organisations were delighted to be part of the public launch by Galway City Council of the Galway City Biodiversity Action Plan. This plan included commitments “to protect, restore and celebrate the biodiversity that sustains us” especially through those “green and blue spaces that are not only home to a remarkable diversity of species but are essential to our health, our climate resilience and our shared sense of place.”

But the council now seems to be undermining these committments.

We have been expressing our frustrations- through meetings with Mayor Helen Ogbu and council staff from multiple departments as well as the River Basin Management Service over the last few months- on the lack of progress over problems that have been appearing recently in the Terryland Forest Park which are undermining public safety and the park's fragile biodiversity as well as sapping the morale of our fantastic volunteers. These include an upsurge in anti-social activity within certain areas of the park which is eliminating habitats, a deliberate destruction of public property such as fencing and in the uprooting the trees that the people of Galway of all ages planted over the decades. There is also a dramatic rise in silt and vegetation across the Terryland River that is decreasing water flow and as a home for aquatic wildlife. We are also worried about the lack of progress in installing pedestrian road crossings connecting sections of the park.

So we have written to all councillors requesting them to visit the Terryland Forest Park this month to review both the successes achieved and the issues that need to be faced up to and be solved including if necessary the passing of new byelaws.

In a time of a growing human-made interlinked global Climate and Biodiversity Crises, our woodlands and parks are needed more than ever.