Minister for Agriculture at Leinster Marts Kilcullen

Michael Kelly, Secretary, Leinster Cooperative Marts; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue; Cllr Ivan Keatley; Ger Smith, Chairman of Leinster Cooperative Marts; and Minister of State Martin Heydon.

In what is thought to be a first for a serving Minister for Agriculture to appear at Leinster Marts Kilcullen, Charlie McConalogue TD addressed a group of local farmers there this evening, writes Brian Byrne.

The Minister is on a tour of Ireland's farming counties to explain and discuss the state of play with the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. The CAP latest 7-year round of the CAP was due to begin last January but was delayed and will not now begin until January 2023. The Minister said it would now effectively be a 5-year CAP but he said it is important to make sure that the delay doesn't adversely affect family farm incomes.

He was greeted on arrival by Ger Smith, Chairman of Leinster Cooperative Marts, who subsequently introduced him to the strong attendance. Also present on the evening was Martin Heydon, TD – Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture for Research & Development, Farm Safety and New Market Development.

Other political figures at the meeting included Bernard Durkan TD, Senator Fiona O'Loughlin, Cllr Rob Power and Cllr Ivan Keatley.

The meeting was expected to continue for some two hours, and included a period for questions from the floor to be addressed.

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