Irish and European farmers are being “thrown to the wolves” when it comes to the Mercosur deal, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) Livestock Chairman, Angus Woods.

This morning hundreds of farmers took to the streets in protest over reports that trade access to the EU market for 70,000t of beef from Brazil and other South American countries will be offered by the EU Commission as part of the Mercosur deal.

The protest got underway at 11:30am this morning outside the EU Commission offices on Lower Mount Street in Dublin. Farmers from right across the country turned out in force to support the protest.

With the streets blocked off, three weanlings and a pedigree Aberdeen Angus bull made an appearance as the protest was about to get underway.

Mercosur

IFA Livestock Chairman Angus Woods and IFA President Joe Healy

Speaking at the protest, Woods described the proposed beef deal on the Mercosur negotiating table as “the great European giveaway” and something which the European market could not accommodate.

“There’s a real determination to ram this deal through, no matter the cost. We’re going to be the ones to pay for this deal; make no mistake about it. The European market cannot be polluted by cheap, substandard Mercosur beef. This is our market.

This is not acceptable from a farmer’s point of view. We kept the lights on when everyone else was running for cover. Soon as things pick up, what happens? We get thrown to the wolves.

Meanwhile, having flown in from Washington DC this morning at 5:00am, the President of the IFA, Joe Healy, highlighted to the many politicians present at the protest that farmers are the “heartbeat of rural life”.

He urged them to remember that fact and to fight on their behalf to prevent Irish and EU farmers – as well as the families they support – being sold out as a result of the Mercosur deal.

Reports that 70,000t of beef, 78,000t of poultry meat and 12,000t of pigmeat has been offered as part of the Mercosur deal was described as “reckless” and a “crazy, crazy proposal” – especially in light of the recent meat scandal that unfolded in Brazil earlier this year.

We don’t have to have great memories to remember the ‘Operation Weak Flesh’ scandal. This deal stinks to the high heavens.

“The commission wants to bulldoze this deal through no matter the consequences, even if it means turning a blind eye to standards. We know that Brazil cannot be trusted when it comes to standards,” Healy said.

The fact that this deal is being pushed towards fruition, in the midst of Brexit, also causes huge uncertainty for Irish farmers, he added.

The President of the IFA also called upon An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to stand up for Irish farmers – the driving force of rural Ireland – and to show his mettle. Similar calls were made to the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan.

Healy said: “It’s time for tight marking and tough tackling. Commissioner Hogan must get in and pull hard to prevent this own goal and sell out of the Irish beef sector.”

Other farmers in attendance were also pessimistic about the future of the sector. Wexford IFA’s JJ Kavanagh believes this proposed Mercosur deal – along with the uncertainty caused by Brexit – could decimate the beef industry.

He feared that Ireland’s beef industry could “go down the same road” as the country’s sugar beet industry.