All farm organisations have been urged by the Individual Farmers of Ireland to pressurise the government to reject the Mercosur deal.

The Individual Farmers of Ireland is the group that organised the tractor demonstration protests in Dublin last December and January, taking to the streets of the capital over beef prices at the time.

In a statement against the EU-Mercosur agreement, which was struck in June 2019, the farm group said:

43 European farm organisations have now rejected the deal. The deal will see over 99,000t of beef flood into our European markets.

The group spokesperson claimed that this could cause Irish farmers an estimated €500-€750 million loss per year, adding:

“This would put every beef farmer in Ireland out of business; it is now clear that South American beef producers are clearing rain forests to increase their beef production, while Green Party leader Eamon Ryan wants Irish farmers to cut our national herd and reduce our beef production.

“[Last] week the German Agriculture minister has announced that she is not pushing ahead with the Mercosur trade deal; a deal that was being pushed through by our own commissioner Phil Hogan.”

Commenting on a vote in the Dáil in July 2019 regarding the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, the Individual Farmers of Ireland spokesperson said:

“This deal was debated on and voted on in Leinster house on Thursday, July 11, 2019. The vote against it won by 84 votes to 46; the majority agreed that the deal was bad for Ireland.

Two very important people voted against the Mercosur deal that day; they are our new Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue and our new Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan.

“We are now calling on both ministers to stick with their decisions and not to change their minds. They have to reject this deal to save beef farmers and to save rural Ireland,” the spokesperson concluded.