A young Cavan farmer says he wants to continue farming and one day build a home on his family farm but planning regulations and negative commentary is making it increasingly difficult for people like him.
Mark, a full-time dairy farmer who also keeps sheep, said one-off rural housing is simply practical for famers who can't be 15 miles away in a town when a cow is calving. He aslo told the Joe Finnegan Show that the countryside is where he wants to set up home, work full-time and raise a family.
Mark was responding to comments made by environmental journalist Frank McDonald who said Covid showed rural areas like Leitrim were one of the best and happiest places to live. Mark said planning regulations make it more difficult and expensive for young people like him to get off to a start (listen below):
