Parlon asks farmers not to vote no in protest

The Minister of State for Finance has appealed to farmers not to use their vote in the Nice Referendum to register a protest.

Former IFA President Tom Parlon asked farmers not to use their vote to vent frustrations about the EU Commission's mid-term Common Agriculture Policy Review proposals.

It is widely thought many farmers will do so in reaction to a poor growing year, cuts in cattle and sugar beet prices and the refusal of the Government to offer a financial reprieve.

He said voting no would not solve the problems and would definitely exacerbate them.