Partnership a Dublin shopping trip for farmers

HOW much Partnership Agreement can deliver to farmers remains as contentious as ever, even as farming leaders take their seats in the negotiations.

Rightly or wrongly, a large segment of farmers firmly believes that partnership agreements have not delivered the goods for them in proportion to other partners in the national agreements.

There was much disagreement among ICMSA and IFA members on whether their then leaders, Pat O'Rourke and John Dillon, should have signed onto the outgoing national agreement. While it delivered to some extent, a large proportion of farmers still believe they were short changed.