A farmer, who had been staging a sit-in and hunger strike at the Department of Agriculture offices in Limerick, ended his protest this afternoon after seeking medical advice from his family doctor.
Mr Donal O'Brien from Pallaskenry in Limerick was protesting over changes in the way REPS payments (Rural Environmental Payments Scheme) are made to farmers.
He claims those changes had left over 6,000 farmers without payments since last summer, and were unlikely to get them until next summer.
He called his family doctor this afternoon, and then went to be assessed at the Accident and Emergency Department of the Mid-Western Regional Hospital. He has since returned home.
Mr O'Brien said he believes his protest had not been in vain, and believes it will put pressure on the Department to restore the old method of payments to farmers.
