This article is from page 42 of the 2008-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 42 JPG
AS the World Trade Organisation talks continue to struggle on this week, the Irish farming organisa- tions have been united in their call for European farmers not to bear the brunt of forcing through a deal.
Speaking over the weekend Irish Farming Association President, Pad- raig Walshe said that the deal should never have even been attempted.
“I think that the conditions never really existed for an agreement in the first place and I think that it is ridicu- lous that this meeting was even held. The approach from the very begin-
ning was wrong,’ he said.
“It looks like it’s on the verge of col- lapse, I believe that it is on the verge of collapse because the condition just don’t exist for an agreement.
These comments were echoes by Macra na Feirme national president Catherine Buckley who said that said young Irish farmers will face extinc- tion under a bad WTO.
‘Mandelson is determined to pur- sue a cavalier strategy to maximise market access for European compa- nies involved in industry and servic- es, while at the same time selling out the EU agricultural sector,” she said.
ICSA president Malcolm Thomp-
son last week said that the EU’s disastrous negotiating tactics at the WTO talks were forcing farmers to give everything and get nothing.
“We need much tougher talk from the Irish government, as part of the Gl4 grouping, to set the record straight,” he said.
“While behind-the-scenes diplo- macy is important, it is vital that the key message is not lost, namely that we are looking at a totally unbal- anced and unacceptable deal.
“So far, Commissioners Mandelson and Fischer Boel have interpreted the lack of a unified, unequivocal and uncompromising statement from the
G14 as giving them a carte-blanche to carry on unhindered with the process of selling out the Irish and EU livestock sectors.”
The ICSA President said that he was absolutely flabbergasted at fail- ure of the General Affairs Council to put the breaks on Peter Mandelson.
“The tentative support offered to the Commission by the Council is in effect giving the go ahead to the WTO sell-out.,’ he said.
“In the current economic circum- stances, any WTO deal will be ca- lamitous not just for farmers but for the country as a whole. At all costs it must be stopped.”