Editing Charles Haughey (section)

===Minister for Agriculture: 1966 Farmers' Strike===
In 1964, Lemass appointed Haughey as [[Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine|Minister for Agriculture]].{{efn|The previous Minister for Agriculture, [[Patrick Smith (politician)|Paddy Smith]], had resigned over a policy dispute.}} Criticism was voiced from the [[Irish Farmers' Association|National Farmers Association]] (NFA) of the appointment of a non-rural person to the position, and there was increased antagonism from farmers towards the government. Haughey became embroiled in a series of controversies with the NFA and with another organisation, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).<ref name=it-3/> Twenty-seven ICMSA picketers outside [[Leinster House]], were arrested on 27 April 1966 under the [[Offences Against the State Act]], an act originally intended for use against the IRA. 78 were arrested the following day, and 80 a day later as the dispute escalated. Haughey, who did not rely on rural voters, was under intense pressure from fearful members of his party to negotiate a deal and reduce the tension. It was Haughey's first alienation of a significant voting block, and probably damaged him electorally in later years as many farmers remembered the events, known in folk memory as the Farmers' Strike.