About The Irish Natura And Hill Farmers Association Work

The Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) was established in January 2015 to represent farmers on marginalised, hill anddesignated land. The organisation was formed because many of these farmers felt they were not being represented. This lack of representation was clearly evident in the drafting of the new CAP Program which created barriers to entry into GLAS and farmers payments under the Basic Payment Scheme. In autumn 2014 a number of public meetings were held in Westport, Letterkenny and Maam Cross to highlight these issues. These meetings culminated in a public protest in Castlebar, which was attended by over 2000 farmers in December 2014. Success was achieved on the back of this when the Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced the removal whereby 50% of commonage farmers would need to have a collective agreement in place before they could even apply for GLAS.

As we moved into 2015 pressure grew from many farmers that attended these meetings on the organisers to move towards setting up a new organisation where farmers can have their voice officially heard. At a meeting held in the Sligo Park Hotel on January 25th the decision was taken to set up a new farming organisation which would be called The Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association.

At the AGM, held on 20th June 2017, the following officers were elected

 

National President Colm O Donnell	Vice Presidents Brendan Joyce and Henry O Donnell	National Secretary Micheal McDonnell
National Treasurer Brendan O'Malley	Director Of Operations Vincent Roddy	PRO Siobhan Ward
Office Administrator Connie Walsh

 

The committee had a further two representatives from each County and its purpose was to put structures in place at local county and national level and develop policy that reflected the view of its members.