Westmeath IFA chair joins farming protest in Brussels

The head of Westmeath IFA was among the 7,000 farmers in Brussels last Thursday who descended on an EU summit to voice concerns about a deal that will affect their future.

The signing of a free trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur was postponed until January following volatile protests by European farmers.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told EU leaders at the summit in Brussels that the European Commission would delay the ratification of the deal after Italy and France called for further protection for the farming sector.

Some protesters set fire to bales of hay and hurled potatoes at riot police, who responded with tear-gas and water cannons.

Among the thousands of farmers in the Belgian capital was Westmeath IFA chairman, Richard O'Brien said it was important that Irish farmers were in Brussels to “stand with our colleagues from across Europe to deliver a strong and united message”.

“We needed to take a stand on the Mercosur deal, but also on the future of the CAP payments after 2027,” Mr O'Brien said. “They're cutting the payments we need to support us to keep farming. So we're trying to fight to keep them as positive or as strong as we can.”Farmers are concerned that the Mercosur deal will damage farming by allowing an influx of unregulated agricultural products from Brazil and its neighbours. “We are bound up with bureaucracy and red tape. The Mercosur trade deal is a pure sign of the hypocrisy of the EU. They're willing to accept agricultural produce from Brazil without the same rigorous regulation. They have no traceability, and no guidelines on animal welfare,” the local IFA chair said.

Speaking at the summit in Brussels on Thursday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, said there is “no sense” in a resolution on Mercosur. Mr O'Brien said political support for the IFA's stance appears to have shifted.

“We have been in continuous talks with our local politicians, trying to keep pressure on them to represent us. We got a commitment at our own AGM last year. They said they're not in favour of Mercosur and they'll do what they can.

“Later in the year we met the minister for agriculture. He changed the story slightly, saying “in its current format”, he wouldn't support it. They're diluting it a bit, talking about safeguarding.”

Mr O'Brien believes the January postponement is a double edged sword: “With the vote postponed to January, we don't know where we stand. I wouldn't be really in favour of that postponement, because it gives them more time to come back with a different challenge. There was a fair amount of disruption in Brussels. There were some younger farmer organisations that were a little bit radical.

“They did a little bit of harm, and they challenged the riot police. That's probably not the way to do business either.

"From my point of view, it was a great opportunity to be part of it,” Mr O'Brien concluded.