1,400 farms in Co Derry located on constrained land in need of support payments, Stormont told

Almost 1,400 farms in Co. Derry are located on constrained land and those who farm them should be supported by state support payments, Stormont was told this week.

Emma Sheerin, the Ballinascreen-based MLA, said: “In County Derry, nearly 1,400 farms operate in Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC), and those farmers need to be supported.

"It is not about creating wealth or supporting the landed gentry by any stretch of the imagination; it is about putting support into the pockets of people who work in difficult circumstances.”

The Sinn Féin MLA was speaking during the second reading of a Private Members’ Bill to re-introduce ANC payments for farmers working in more challenging conditions. Support payments were previously available up until 2018.

Sinn Féin TD Declan McAleer, who moved the bill, said: “In my constituency of West Tyrone, almost 60 per cent of land is classified as ‘severely disadvantaged’.

"Over 90 per cent of land in Fermanagh is disadvantaged land. The figure is over 50 per cent for the East Derry constituency and over 60 per cent for East Antrim. Those figures underline the scale of the challenge that faces our rural communities.”

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West Tyrone SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said: “When we talk about areas with ANCs, we are talking about some of the most challenging land anywhere in this island: hills, uplands and marginal land, where farming is not just a job but an everyday way of life for so many people, particularly my constituents in West Tyrone.

"Those landscapes are not simply natural; they have been shaped, maintained and protected by generations of farmers. Those farmers go out in all weathers.”

Ms. Sheerin observed that due to the ‘long-drawn-out history in this place’ a ‘majority of people who work in ANCs are of a nationalist persuasion, but farmers across the board would benefit from the payment’.

"As somebody who was reared on a sheep farm, in a house with a strong non-sectarian ethos, I say that farmers work with one another regardless of religion, background, political outlook, constitutional ideas or anything else: that does not come into the equation,” she said.

The bill was approved to proceed to committee stage with the support of Sinn Féin, UUP, SDLP, TUV, People Before Profit and Independent Claire Sugden.