IFA President Meets Taoiseach on WTO Negotiations
IRELAND - As livestock farmers gathered in Tullamore demanding the veto to block WTO cuts, Irish Farmers Association (IFE) President Padraig Walshe met the Taoiseach on 26 July.Following the meeting, Mr Walshe said he had re-iterated to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) the damage to farmers, the food industry and rural Ireland in the WTO deal on the table in Geneva.
Mr Walshe said the veto decision was in the Taoiseach’s hands and the livestock industry could not be sold out for Mandelson’s promises on services.
At the meeting, I reminded the Taoiseach that he said on June 3rd “the WTO deal would require agriculture to bear a disproportionate burden while delivering little in other sectors and is therefore unacceptable to the Government.”
At the same time, he said any WTO agreement must not undermine our agricultural interests.