Under grey skies and with a chill in the air, scores of people gathered at the Macra na Feirme sundial monument in Athy, Co Kildare for this evening's march.
In 1944, Macra na Feirme was founded in this town and now 79 years later, its members have begun a 79km walk to Government buildings in Dublin to highlight their concerns about their futures within rural communities.
The march got under way just after 7pm, led by dairy farmers and Macra na Feirme president John Keane.
Mr Keane said: "We're marching for rural Ireland. We’re marching for the future of rural young people. This is the coming together of years of work by our organisation.
"Young people here this evening, you can see are vibrant, they want a future, they want rural Ireland to thrive and we need the Government to listen to us," he added.
A young farmer taking part in the march is Aishling O'Keefe from Banteer, Co Cork.
"We are marching for the future of rural Ireland. We’re trying to make sure there is a future there for ourselves and the people coming after us, so we don’t have to continue on the plane to Australia and Canada and everywhere else," she said.
The dairy farmer said young farmers and rural Ireland are facing many problems.
Ms O’'Keefe said: "Affordability of housing is a massive issue and the struggles to actually get planning permission to build on your own land or in your local area."
"Transport is a major issue and there is a massive shortage of GPs. A big issue on the farming side is the new quota being introduced by TAMS while the current farm exit scheme the Government is proposing is essentially going to sterilise land…that means no young farmer can come in and take over," she added.
Macra na Feirme's full list of concerns relate to farming and non-farming issues.
Regarding farming, they are concerned the Government’s definition of "family farms" will exclude farms where young farmers have ambitions to develop; a five-year development freeze condition being put on young dairy farmers who get specific grant aid; EU environmental proposals to restore some farmland into peat soil areas; and the failure of Government to recognise the need for a farm succession scheme.
Non-farming issues include the need for access to affordable housing and cumbersome planning guidelines that frequently prevent people building homes, disjointed and sparse healthcare services including poor mental healthcare and lack of rural GPs and below-par public transport in rural areas.
Macra na Feirme said these issues have to be addressed.
"As an organisation we have been at the forefront of constructive lobby work on all of the topics outlined. We feel now we must bring national attention to these issues and get the voice of rural communities to the fore," Mr Keane said.
"Our message is simple; we want to be able to remain at home in our rural communities. We will present our proposals to the Government on arriving at Government Buildings on Wednesday," he added.
In a statement, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said: "Both I and the Government are absolutely committed to supporting young farmers.
"Through the new CAP, I have delivered a 50% increase in direct funding specifically for young farmers. I have also secured 60% grants for young farmers to invest in and futureproof their farms through the TAMS scheme.
"I doubled funding for measures to support land mobility and transfer to support young farmers.
"The Government has protected a whole range of taxation measures to support young farmers and generational renewal," said Mr McConalogue.
The marching route starts in Athy continuing onwards to Kilcullen, Naas, Kill, Newcastle, Bluebell and finally to Government Buildings.
They expect to arrive at the gates of Government Buildings at 1pm tomorrow.
