Farmers led a merry dance

LIKE the grand old Duke of York, IFA president Padraig Walshe is taking farmers for a quick march around the streets of Luxembourg.

He tells the world he is protesting about the low price of milk. Doesn’t he know the price is formed by the interplay of supply and demand, swayed to a large extent by the EU milk quota system and the strong-arm milkpurchase tactics of the big supermarket chains who are unchecked by EU competition law.

No amount of marching in Luxembourg can exonerate Mr Walshe from his own responsibility for the collapse in milk prices since the IFA lobbied the EU Commission successfully to increase quotas by 5% between now and 2012 at a time when there is an overhang of dairy products on the world market.