There has been some political support for the farmers' protests taking place in Cavan and Monaghan this evening. The Monaghan protest is underway right now.
Farmers are congregating in their tractors on the bypass from 5 o'clock. A similar group will meet on the Cavan bypass at 7pm. The local demonstrators say they are turning out in solidarity with farmers across Europe who have the same grievances.
Over-regulation, trade deals like Mercer, farm gate prices and late subsidy payments are just some of the issues farmers feel aggrieved about. "Farmers are not the enemy here and we have to remind ourselves of that," Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly told Northern Sound, "Without farmers there is no food. There's been a shocking increase in the cost of fuel, electricity and fertiliser and all this has had a detrimental impact on farm profits. We need to ensure that farmers get at least a break-even price from the supermarkets and factories for their produce."
