Farmers Alliance to become political party

Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The Farmers Alliance is to have its application to become a political party approved.

It means the party will be able to stand candidates in Dáil, local and European Parliament elections.

The group will become the State’s 29th political party after a 21-day appeal period lapses or after the outcome of any appeals.

The Electoral Commission’s chief executive, Art O’Leary, is to approve the new party’s application, as the State’s Registrar of Political Parties.

The formal notification published on Friday in the official State gazette, Iris Oifigiúil, lists the party’s address in Redcastle, Co Donegal.

The formation of the party follows the path of similar farming activists in Europe.

In the Netherlands, the pro-farmer party, the Farmers Citizens Movement, known by its Dutch acronym BBB, shocked the political establishment by winning provincial elections in March last year.

Its Dutch-Irish leader, Caroline van der Plas, addressed the Farmers’ Alliance movement in Athlone last April.