Eamon Ryan has said it is "unbelievable” that the Irish media is “ignoring the climate issue”, following a summer of extreme heat. 

While many have been enjoying the sunshine, farmers have seen their crops wither and been forced to feed their cattle winter fodder because of the poor quality of the grass. 

It all means the price of food is set to increase and one estimate reported on by the Irish Independent concluded it could add €1,000 to the average family’s food bills. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said he has not been impressed by press coverage of the issue. 

“I think that proposal for €1,000 was in an article in the Indo on this issue,” he said. 

“There wasn't a single mention of climate in that; why is it that our food price, our food industry is in crisis? 

“For the first 100 days of this year, it never stopped raining and it hasn't.

“Because of that, we're feeding our cattle winter feed now; in the middle of August, we're facing a fodder crisis.

“We've had loads of fodder crisis in recent years, but we always turn to the UK - that won't happen this year.” 

Drought in West Cork. Picture by: aphperspective/Alamy Live News.

Mr Ryan continued that British farmers are in “dire trouble” and will not be able to supply Irish farmers with fodder. 

He accused the Irish media of “ignoring the climate issue”, something he described as ‘unbelievable’ given the severity of the situation. 

“It's like the Don't Look Up movie,” he said. 

“What's happening in our planet this summer is without precedent; the scientists are absolutely terrified because it's happening far faster than we thought it would happen.

“I remember seeing five years ago at the European Council, we were shown maps of southern France and Spain in kind of 2050, 2100. 

“It's here now and that's just one example.”

Mr Ryan also said the Government has lost interest in climate change in recent years, a phenomenon he blamed on the fact that the “media aren't interested because the public aren't interested”. 

“It's that cycle of just ignore it, ‘Well, it's like ‘76 or it's like 1985’ - it's not,” he said. 

While he admitted that Ireland is not the only country to lose interest in tackling climate change, Mr Ryan insisted that Irish society still “needs to do things here at home”.

“You can say, ‘Oh, Trump is a problem’ - I'm sorry, the Irish political system is in dramatic retreat on the issue of climate change when it could not be more evident,” he said. 

“The scientists could not be more clear that this is the issue of our time and you have newspaper articles discussing the issue, which completely ignores the fundamental reason for why it's happening.”

Main image: Eamon Ryan. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images