'My family roots are in west Clare': Presidential hopeful Jim Gavin says farming is in DNA
Speaking on day one of the iconic event, Mr Gavin spoke passionately on the importance of farming, something deeply rooted in his life since childhood
Fianna Fáil presidential hopeful Jim Gavin has hailed his West Clare parents, Jim Sr and Ann Gavin, as "custodians of the land" at the National Ploughing Championships in Tullamore, Offaly.
Speaking to Virgin Media News on day one of the iconic event, the former Dublin GAA manager spoke passionately on the importance of farming, something deeply rooted in his life since childhood.
The presidential candidate said, "I'm a proud Dub, but like many Dubliners, we're only one generation away from rural Ireland, from the land and my family roots are in West Clare. My dad's from Cree, my mum's from Moy. So, you know, farming is my DNA, (I) would have, during the summer months, been on the homestead farm, they are the custodians of the land."
While not a farmer himself, Mr Gavin did say he is aware of issues affecting the sector, where a number of his family members are employed.
The father-of-two continued, "For me, what I hear from farmers, and my cousins are involved in farming, is, you know, having sustainable income. Obviously, there's a couple of issues that Barry (Andrews) highlights from a European perspective, as a derogation beyond this year, sustainability of the cap and obviously the EU and South American trade and the importance that the standards that are set and a very high standards that our farmers have to meet within Europe, that level playing field must be maintained at those trade deals. These are things that I'm hearing about and obviously it's about succession as well."
Speaking on the National Ploughing Championships, the retired Irish Defence Forces officer said it was enlightening to see how many young people were present at the event.
"What really inspires me today, and I've only here for being a for a few hours, is the amount of young people, a lot with hurleys, so obviously small ball is the dominant sport maybe in this part of Offaly, but so many young people here and speaking about farming and speaking about agriculture and speaking about dairy farming and bee farming and tillage and to hear young people speak to me about that with my background is really inspirational," Mr Gavin concluded.