EXCITEMENT is building throughout the county ahead of the new-look Fermanagh County Show which kicks off tomorrow (Friday). Over the next two days, hundreds of locals and visitors to Fermanagh are expected to turn out to the show’s new venue at Castle Irvine Estate in Irvinestown. A range of activities are scheduled to take place, […]
Mooo over… Highland heifers taking social media by storm
ROAMING around the hills of Belcoo, overlooking the splendid Lough MacNean, are two award-winning Meenawargy Highland heifers, named ‘Connie’ and ‘Kirsty’. Purchased in Oban last year by Adrian Gallagher, the pure bred Highlands have risen to social media stardom, following the creation of their own Instagram page, which was the brainwave of his daughter, Caitlin. […]
With two weeks to go uncertainty reigns on Brexit deals
FEARS are growing about the future of rural funding in Fermanagh post-Brexit, with the Westminster government being urged to give assurances tens of millions in lost EU financial support will be fully replaced. Last week the agriculture and rural affairs ministers from the North, Scotland, and Wales, including Minister Edwin Poots, wrote an open letter […]
College confirms plans to reopen in September
STUDENTS will be returning to one of Enniskillen’s colleges this September, it has been confirmed. While some third level institutions are exploring remote learning for the upcoming academic year, it was confirmed at the weekend agriculture CAFRE would be physically opening, as much as possible, again in September. “Face-to-face delivery is the preferred option for […]
Reopening of local marts ‘positive for mental health’
THE re-opening of livestock marts here would see the return of a social outlet for farmers, it has been suggested. Livestock marts introduced strict restrictions limiting the number of people on the premises and running online sales where buyers and sellers tuned in from their living rooms to watch animals go under the hammer. Now […]
Tragic death gives farmers pause for thought
THE SILAGE season has returned. From mid-May onward the sight of tractors, trailers and harvesters are common place along country roads and in fields. A safety warning comes with the increased volume of heavy machinery operating at a time when many children are spending time at home, often in close vicinity to the farm yard. […]
Vets may be facing prospect of medicine rationing
ISSUES with the flow of supply in veterinary medicine has left local vets facing up to rationing during what is one of the busiest seasons of the farming calendar. Local vet Innes Redmond of Lakeland Veterinary Services, with practices in Derrygonnelly and Belleek outlined challenges in getting essential products such as surgical scrubs and local […]
Poor broadband growing worry for local farmers
FUNDING for our forests, animal health, the environment and fisheries, and for food and farming is all to be slashed by the newly restored Stormont Executive. On top of that, a new digitalisation plan by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) could see farmers here in Fermanagh disadvantaged due to the county’s […]
No fracking pledge by Fermanagh’s biggest landowner
FERMANAGH’S biggest land-owner has waged a war against fracking by pledging to block any plans to use fracking on her grounds.