Clare farmers will have the opportunity to discuss their concerns with the EU/Mercosur Trade Deal at a public meeting in Kilrush on Wednesday night.
West Clare Sinn Féin representative, Violet-Anne Wynne will host the public meeting which takes place in the Kilrush Community Hall at 8pm. Former Sinn Féin MEP, Liada Hí Riada will be the main speaker on the night and will be joined by Donie Shine, Chairperson of the Irish Family-Farm Rights Group.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Violet-Anne maintained the proposed agreement “is a bad deal for Ireland and for the environment. The deal will see the importing of 99,000 tonnes of beef into the European Union (EU) each year, tariff free, which will devastate the Clare beef industry, while simultaneously doing severe climate damage”.
She added, “The economic impact of damaging the Clare farming industry will also accelerate the decline of rural areas by the closure of small businesses and the loss of local jobs. The Mercosur Trade Deal undermines our 2030 emission targets by importing beef which takes four times the carbon footprint of Clare beef to produce, with additional emissions being created through transportation of the beef from South America to Europe.”
“This represents a sell-out of farmers and all of the main farming organisations in Clare have consistently opposed this deal because of the serious impact it will have on agriculture and it is a blatant example of climate hypocrisy.”
