Irish growers have called for government support following the significant damage caused by Storm Éowyn.
Irish Farmers Association (IFA) Fruit and Vegetable Chair Niall McCormack has said that horticultural businesses had been particularly badly affected by the adverse weather. “Between collapsed growing structures and subsequent loss of plants, there are significant financial losses,” he said. “Growers are assessing the damage which will mount to thousands in many cases. The storm came at a vulnerable time for growers as tunnels and glasses have been planted with young plants for the upcoming season. Structural damage has destroyed many of these plants.”
Speaking of his own business, he added, “We’re based in South County Longford and we lost three tunnels and one tunnel had structural damage done to it.” He adds, “It’s not only the tunnels and the polyhouses and the glass houses and the mushroom houses that are the problem – it’s also the crop that’s inside in the tunnels. Some of these crops will have to be dumped.
“Farmers just want to get back into the business. They realise that everybody in the community has been affected but growers just want to get back into the business and do what they know the best. Growers are operating on quite tight margins, so there’s not really much money left in the purse and for that reason, growers need some help.”
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland’s finance minister Caoimhe Archibald has said that talks about compensation, both for consumers who lost power and businesses, are ongoing.
