Farmers split on Lisbon vote

A SPLINTER group of farmers has launched a No to Lisbon campaign, claiming its introduction will dilute Irish inheritance laws and slash farming incomes in an enlarged EU.

Senior farming leaders were joined by fishermen and politicians yesterday in their bid to garner opposition ahead of the referendum six weeks from today.

James Reynolds, a former chairman of the Irish Farmers Association, said the Farmers for No group were not anti-EU. But he claimed that, since Ireland had joined the EU in 1973, farmer numbers had fallen from 300,000 to 130,000.