ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of farm interest group politics in Ireland, focused primarily on farm interest structures in the Republic of Ireland – notably the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association. It begins with an overview of the interest group system, set within an overall economic, political and ideological framework. The chapter discusses the history, internal governance, objectives and core policies of the main farmers' organizations, and the pattern of their interactions with the state. The institutional machinery developed as a result of Belfast Agreement to link the Irish political system with devolved institutions in Northern Ireland has the potential to completely refashion the relationship between north and south in agricultural policy. The crucial factor in the resilience of the IFA is its partnership with the Irish state. The feature of the Irish agricultural policy community is the high degree of consensus between government and farming interests on the main elements of agricultural policy.
