Ming picks row with Mairead in Brussels over beef exports

The controversial politician Luke Ming Flanagan has picked his first row in the European Parliament with fellow Irish MEP Mairead McGuinness.

The two are members of the Agriculture Committee and the former Roscommon TD told visiting Irish journalists that he “would be keeping an eye” on her.

The Fine Gael MEP reacted swiftly with a statement saying she did not need competition from any MEP, Irish or otherwise, to get her to do her job.

Both raised the issue of Irish beef at their first meeting of the agriculture committee earlier in the week.

Mr Flanagan accused Ms McGuinness and the Government of failing to address the problem that some Irish beef producers have in selling their cattle to Britain.

“They can live export them to Italy but getting them on a boat to Britain is a problem — and at a time when some farmers are finding it very difficult to make a living.”

There will be a public meeting in Ballinasloe over the weekend about the problem, and the issue will be on the agenda for the next agriculture committee meeting, he added.

Mr Flanagan was unrepentant and said he did not understand how Ms McGuinness could be offended by one public representative saying they would ‘keep an eye’ on another public representative.

Ms McGuinness, who is the second vice-president of the parliament and a long-time member of the agriculture committee, said Mr Flanagan attempted to “denigrate, minimise and misrepresent” her role.

“This points to a paucity of argument on his own behalf, if he has to resort to this sort of cheap tactic.”

She said she had contacted the commission about the beef problem and expected a formal response shortly. Under EU rules no country can discriminate against goods from another EU country.

The previous day Mr Flanagan accused the three Fine Gael MEPs and European Commission president designate Jean-Claude Juncker of being elected with lies over the issue of Ireland’s bank crisis.