Government 'No’ to Mercosur 'the right call' - Mayo councillors
IFA president Francie Gorman said the confirmation this morning that the Irish government will vote 'No' to the Mercosur trade deal is the right decision.
The news comes ahead of Saturday's national protest in Athlone against the deal, with many farmers from Mayo planning to attend.
Mr. Gorman said the IFA’s campaign opposing Mercosur will continue after tomorrow’s meeting of the EU Ambassadors.
Mayo TD Keira Keogh welcomed the announcement, saying: "Our government has always been clear: we did not support the deal in the form in which it was presented. Having engaged with like-minded countries that share our concerns, and negotiated to secure a better deal for Ireland, what’s on the table is not enough to satisfy our citizens.
"I want to thank Tánaiste Simon Harris as well as Ministers Martin Heydon and Helen McEntee for their tireless work on behalf of our farming community."
Mayo councillors Chris Maxwell (Independent Ireland) and Johnny O'Malley (Independent) have previously spoken out against Mercosur, saying the deal has the potential to decimate the Irish beef industry through cheap and inferior imports.
Fine Gael Councillor Neil Cruise this morning also issued a statement voicing his views on Mercosur - 'No'.
He said: “I am totally against the proposed Mercusor deal for the following reasons:
“1. Consequences for Irish beef production in a highly regulated agricultural environment.
“2. Traceability of growth promoter and antibiotic use (a lot of these products are banned in Ireland for years) in imported beef from other jurisdictions.
“3. Enviromment concerns: Agricultural products from other jurisfictions are being produced on rain forest lands that have been cleared using the crudest of methods.
“Let us all remember that the rain forests are the lungs of this world.”
The IFA president said there is a clear commitment in the Programme for Government that the government would oppose the deal.
“The so-called safeguards put forward by the EU Commission do not give any assurances that Brazilian beef will meet EU standards,” Mr. Gorman said.
“In our discussions with members of government over the last 48 hours, we re-stated that opposition to the Mercosur deal was the only credible position the government could adopt. Farmers would have felt let down by any other approach.”
The announcement follows yesterday’s revelation that Brazilian beef containing banned hormones entered the Irish food chain in recent months and is now subject to an official recall by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
“This shows that the undertaking from Brazil about the processes they have in place are completely flawed and wholly ineffective,” said Mr. Gorman.
“In 2024, a previous EU audit found that the Brazilian system to stop hormones entering the EU food chain could not be relied upon. We were told by the EU Commission that Brazil implemented an action plan to address this. Yet, hormones have now entered the EU and Irish food chain.
“The question is: are Brazil misleading the EU or are the EU misleading their citizens. We need full disclosure immediately.”
The president of the ICMSA, Denis Drennan, said the government’s decision that Ireland would vote against the Mercosur Agreement was the right decision on both economic and environmental grounds.