FARMING VOTE:THE SECOND-LARGEST farming organisation in the State, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA), yesterday announced it would be asking its members to vote Yes in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty on June 12th.
Senior figures from the association, including its president Jackie Cahill, met Taoiseach Brian Cowen in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday morning. The association announced its decision immediately after the meeting.
“We got a cast-iron assurance from the Taoiseach that the current proposals on the table at the WTO [World Trade Organisation] will not be adopted by the Irish Government and that they are not acceptable to Ireland,” said Mr Cahill.
“That’s what we will be looking for from the Government. On that basis, we will be going to our national council on Wednesday looking for a positive recommendation of the Lisbon Treaty.”
Mr Cowen said in a statement he had assured the ICMSA leadership that the Government would not accept a WTO deal that was “unbalanced and undermines farmers’ interests”.
He also reiterated that Ireland would not lose its right to veto a world trade deal if the Lisbon Treaty was adopted.
“We can confirm without any equivocation that the Lisbon Treaty in no way affects unanimity requirement regarding the approval of the WTO deal if and when those negotiations are finalised and returned to the Council of Ministers for a decision,” he said.
The Taoiseach added that ratification of the treaty would provide the most favourable basis to negotiate and define Ireland’s agricultural interests at EU level.
The ICMSA leadership’s decision to endorse the treaty was not widely anticipated. The organisation had taken part, along with the Irish Farmers’ Association, in the mass protest outside the Dáil last month against proposals that had been tabled for the WTO negotiations by EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson.
Yesterday, Mr Cahill said the decision had not been reached lightly but he was “absolutely sure” it was in the best interests of Irish farmers and the wider agri-commercial sector.
He said that the recommendation should not be taken as any kind of a signal that the ICMSA had diminished or lessened its resistance to the Mandelson proposals.
“The danger here is that we end up cutting off our nose to spite our face. ICMSA will fight the Mandelson proposals to the bitter end and we stand ready to seek an EU court injunction against the commissioner should the situation demand it,” he said.
Fine Gael’s agriculture spokesman Michael Creed welcomed the announcement but also argued that Mr Cowen should confirm that the Government would use its veto if the WTO proposals remained unchanged.
“By giving this assurance, he would reassure farmers’ confidences that have been undermined by the prospect of a WTO sell-out and aid the push for a Lisbon Yes vote,” said Mr Creed.
The Irish Alliance for Europe also welcomed the ICMSA decision. Ken Curtin of the alliance said it showed the ICMSA “have their finger on the pulse and can clearly see the bigger picture”.
He said there was now “a real momentum in rural Ireland in favour of Yes vote” in the Lisbon referendum.
