By James Helm BBC correspondent in Dublin

This was the day Ireland's farmers brought a bit of the countryside to the capital city.

Their protest produced a spectacular sight - the massed ranks of hundreds of muddied tractors, parked in the beautiful Merrion Square, right next to government buildings.

Ten years down the road, my son won't have a future in farming unless something is done now Farmer Paddy Healy

The farmers who had driven here, and many more of their supporters, milled around, waving banners and cheering the speech by the head of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), John Dillon.

All week, from all corners of Ireland, they have headed towards Dublin in their tractors.

In long, slow convoys, from counties such as Donegal in the north-west and Kerry in the south-west, more than 1,500 farmers took to the roads to make their point.

The aim, the organisers say, was to highlight the fall in farm incomes.

To minimise the disruption to people in the city, only 300 of the tractors were brought into the centre of Dublin.

Floundering incomes

The IFA says incomes dropped by around 9% in 2002.

Mr Dillon's figures show an average income of 15,000 euros (£9,800) - which he says is about a third of the public sector pay rate.

Costs are rising and bureaucracy, the farmers claim, is getting worse.

At the same time they are getting lower prices for what they produce - milk and beef for example.

In a country where agriculture continues to play a vital role in the nation's economy - around 300,000 Irish jobs depend on it - more and more people are leaving full-time farming.

Paddy Healy had brought his young son in their tractor from their farm in County Wicklow.

He said: "Ten years down the road, my son won't have a future in farming unless something is done now."

Longest journey

We followed the progress of Denis Regan, who had driven further than anyone, having left Castletownbere in County Cork in Ireland's far south-west last Sunday.

Standing outside government buildings after more than 200 miles in his tractor, he said it had been worth the effort.

"Definitely. We got such a good reception everywhere. As we came into Dublin business people were waving and people at bus stops were waving."

Certainly, many Dubliners had taken heed of the warning that the farmers were on their way, and had kept off the roads, which were much quieter than usual.

Anger

There were calls for the Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh to step down.

Among the demands set out, the farmers called for a better strategy to manage the sector in a time of hardship, a reversal in budget cuts, and a reduction in red tape.

Bertie Ahern's government says it is doing its best to help farmers at a difficult time.

But beneath the high spirits and banter among the farmers gathered in the city centre, there was no mistaking the anger.

As the engines revved and the tractors pulled out, farmers leaders promised that if the government does not act quickly, then more protests will follow.