Snow continues to bite

Snow continues to bite

3 April 2013

AS farmers continue to count the cost of the devastating spring snow storms, they are hoping a government relief package announced this week will make a difference.

The £5m aid package was agreed by the Assembly on Thursday to pay for the collection and disposal of sheep which died in the blizzards and make hardship payments to the worst affected farms.

One of the farmers affected by the recent snow storms in Bryansford, councillor Dessie Patterson, said he is unsure if the Assembly has gone far enough.

“It is to be welcomed but by the time you lift all the dead stock how are they going to work out the rest of the money,” he said, concerned about what the relief package would amount to when divided.

“I lost two sheds over the snow. Yesterday and today is a bit better. Some kind neighbours gave us land to put the sheep in but I still have not got to all the animals. I will know better about the scale of the damage in a couple of weeks.”

Councillor Patterson said money set aside for the Rural Development Programme in Northern Ireland had not always been used to benefit farmers.

“Money has been given to some Gaelic clubs, for example and, while I have nothing against Gaelic clubs, some of that money should be going into farming. I would like to see the percentage of that raised.”

Farmer Ivor McNally, from Drumbo, who has had several calves die from pneumonia in the freezing temperatures, said: “I want to see the small farmer helped, not just the big farmer.

“There are a lot of farmers worse off than me. There are men who have lost 20 sheep, 50 sheep, near half their stock. These are big sums of money.”

Farm owner Winnie Lavery, who last week spoke of the problems getting medication to her elderly father in snowbound Dromara, said she hoped the payments to farmers would “not be a in the ocean”.

“I have no idea yet what all this has cost us,” she said. “We have not even recovered all our livestock.”

With the snow beginning to thaw, people using the Mourne Mountains are being warned about potential avalanches. Police are urging hillwalkers and snow-sport enthusiasts to be mindful of severe conditions and not to place themselves, or others, in unnecessary danger.

Ian McCracken from the Mourne Mountain Rescue team said there were some dangers for people out walking.

“It is more on the westerly slopes,” he said. “Look for build ups of snow and you can probably see them as you’re driving or walking into some of those areas.”