Irish farming groups have welcomed the collapse of the World Trade Organisation talks in Geneva, claiming Irish agriculture has been saved from a potential “catastrophe”.
Farming representatives have repeatedly called for Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to exercise Ireland’s veto at the talks, claiming they were being forced into concessions that would destroy the agricultural industry.
Nine EU states, including Ireland and France, had demanded better terms for the union during negotiations before they collapsed today.
Irish Farmers Association president Pádraig Walshe today thanked Mr Sarkozy for “defending European agriculture” and saving Ireland from a deal that would “would have cost €4 billion in losses in the agriculture and food industries.”
He renewed his call on Ms Coughlan to support the French governement "in now tearing up the EU WTO offer as the other parties have walked away from the table."
Jackie Cahill, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), said the collapse was a “step back from the edge of a cliff” and called on the Doha round of talks to be “buried”.
“Irish and European farmers must realize how close we have come to commercial oblivion and we must take steps that prevent us ever again skirting such disaster,” he said. “The viability of European food production and the protection of decent farmer incomes cannot be so casually jeopardised ever again.”
Macra na Feirme national president Catherine Buckley said farmers could “breathe a sigh of relief as not only would a bad deal have been disastrous for Irish agriculture, it would also be a serious blow to the Irish economy.”
Ms Buckley said the discussions had “failed to take into account major challenges facing world agriculture such as food security, food quality, financial speculation and soaring energy prices which have come to the fore since the Doha round begun.”
Irish Cattle and Sheep Association president Malcolm Thompson said the WTO process “has been inspired by multi-national greed rather than a desire to insure food security, sustainable agriculture or equality between rich and poor.”
Irish livestock farmers yesterday claimed they were being "sold out" by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson at the Geneva talks.
Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Michael Creed said: “No deal is better than a bad deal for Irish farming and there is no question that the deal on the table was a bad one.
“The agricultural proposals were worse than those envisaged on June 3rd when the Taoiseach gave a commitment to use the veto in the event of an unacceptable deal,” he said.
“Major questions remain about the dismal performance of the Government at the negotiations in defending the interests of Irish farmers.”