'Public will see through government’s cynical manoeuvre on Mercosur deal' - Martin Kenny TD

Sligo/Leitrim TD Martin Kenny TD has condemned the decision of the EU Council to approve the Mercosur trade agreement as a "bad day for Irish Agriculture, the environment and public health."

He said the government’s "11th hour decision to vote against the agreement as a cynical manoeuvre only arrived upon when Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were safe in the knowledge that the vote would pass because of Italy’s decision to support it."

Publishing Sinn Féin’s Dáil motion on this issue, to be debated on Tuesday, Deputy Kenny said Sinn Féin would "not give up the fight against this disastrous deal."

The motion calls on government to support a legal challenge to the deal by members of the EU parliament, mandate all Irish MEPs to vote against the deal and for the government to engage directly with MEPs across the EU to urge them to reject the deal in the European Parliament.

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Teachta Kenny said: “This is a bad day for Irish Agriculture, the environment and public health. This decision today undermines food safety standards in the EU and puts EU consumers' health at risk. While the Irish government voted against the deal today, they had to be dragged kicking and screaming to this position by the combined opposition, the farm organisations and some of their own backbench TDs. But the public will see right through Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s manoeuvring.  It was at the 11th hour that they cynically announced, in an act of political cowardice, that they would vote against Mercosur - only when they were safe in the knowledge that the vote would pass because of Italy’s decision to support it."

He continued: "We in Sinn Fein had been calling on this government for months to state their position on Mercosur. And for years we have been calling on successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil governments to take a leadership role in opposition to the deal. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil repeatedly failed to stand up and be counted, and steadfastly refused to engage seriously with like-minded EU member states in forming a blocking minority. While today’s vote is disappointing and should be condemned, the campaign to put an end to this disastrous deal is not over."

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He concluded: "There is still a legal challenge to the deal by members of the EU parliament, including Sinn Fein’s MEPS, and there will be a vote in the EU parliament on the deal. Sinn Fein will not give up this fight. We will bring forward a Dáil motion on Tuesday evening calling on the government to support this legal action. The motion would also mandate all their party MEPs to vote against the deal, and for the government to engage directly with MEPs across the EU to urge them to reject the deal in the EU parliament. Mercosur must be stopped, and the government needs to stand up and lead the opposition to this deal.”