IFA call to defeat Mandelson deal

A total mobilisation of Government resources to defeat what it termed as EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson’s deliberate attempts to use the WTO negotiations to dismantle the Common Agriculture Policy was sought by the IFA at the partnership talks in Dublin Castle yesterday.

Pádraig Walshe, president, said the cost to Ireland would be €2 billion per annum. This would devastate rural areas, where over 300,000 jobs depend on agriculture.

“The deal Mandelson wants would wipe out Irish beef producers and our national beef herd of over 1.2 million suckler cows,” he said.