Four fifths of farmers say they have the right to bear arms to defend property

The majority of the 264 farmers who took part in Macra na Feirme’s Young Farmer Survey for 2016 believe they should have the right to bear arms to defend their property.

Half have already been affected by rural crime.

One respondent said: 'There needs to be an app or some text service that allows people to give information if they see suspicious activity.

'Currently you only can contact Crimestoppers if you see a crime being committed.'

Another said: 'A lot of people take photos of their yards and post them up on social media, this is heaven for robbers.'

One more who responded said if a trespasser enters property with the intent to commit a crime, the farmer should have the right to do whatever is necessary to protect their land because if nothing is done, 'what stops others from going into farms and doing the same?'.

Macra na Feirme were present at the National Ploughing Championship, where they launched their new farm safety programme ‘ABP Safe Agri Skills’ in association with Skillnets.

Over the three days they discussed land mobility with Austin Finn, mental health and various agriculture issues affecting Ireland farmers today.