Call to waive fee for lifting dead sheep

Wednesday March 27 - Ballycastle SDLP Cllr Dónal Cunningham and his colleague Cllr Catherine McCambridge have called for a one off fee waiver on the collection of livestock which has perished during the heavy snowfall.

By The Newsroom

Published 27th Mar 2013, 15:30 BST

Cllr Cunningham said: “We met and heard from many farmers throughout the area who continue to be badly hit as a result of the treacherous weather conditions. A number of these farmers have lost valuable livestock and on top of everything else, they are now looking at substantial fees for the collection of fallen stock.

“There is a genuine case to be made for special arrangements to be put in place to collect dead stock free of charge or at the very least at a subsidised rate.

“We welcome the fact that our Party colleague Joe Byrne called an emergency meeting of the Agriculture Committee in Stormont and have asked him to raise this issue and urge the committee to take action to help farmers deal with the aftermath of this crisis. The hardship facing farmers won’t melt away with the snow”.