Call for Irish MEPs to vote 'no' on Mercosur after 20,000 attend protest in Athlone

Cllr James Gilmartin asked that Leitrim County Council write to the 14 Irish members of the European Parliament urging them to vote against the EU Merocour Trade Agreement and use their position to encourage members to do likewise. 

He was speaking at the latest full council meeting in Carrick-on-Shannon. 

He said he feared that small-scale farming "could be devastated by this deal in it's current form. Farmers are just looking for a level playing field. It's about trying to compete with farm models in other countries that don't have the same standards as Ireland; it'll cause issues."

He continued that growth hormones and carcinogenic materials have been found in beef from countries in South America and recently evidence of this was found in a shipment that arrived in Ireland which had to be returned.

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He noted: "Even though Ireland said no to the deal, along with France and other countries, it still doesn't make up the numbers and must be brought before the European Parliament. "

Cllr Brendan Barry supported the motion and harshly criticised the government saying "it was in the programme for government" but "they didn't make up their mind until last Thursday night when backbenchers put huge pressure on the government to vote against it."

He added: "They didn't do that until they knew Italy was no longer opposing it so when they knew that the Irish vote was irrelevant, the Government voted no."

He stated: "How could they be calling on other countries to vote 'no' when they didn't even publicly say they were voting 'no'. They must think the Irish people are farmers are fools if they think they can talk out of both sides of their mouth."

He said the deal will "totally undermine Irish beef farmers as we export 90% of our beef" and "it's totally unfair that an inferior and dangerous product containing hormones" be allowed into the country.

He added: "Beef was found in September in Ireland containing banned hormones and substances that have been banned for over 40 years."

He concluded: "It's a bad deal and a rotten deal."

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Cllr Justin Warnock said there was "no point raking over what was or wasn't done. Now is the time for the 14 MEPs of this country to vote. Every Member of Parliament within the EU needs to stand up and support their rural base too. It's an interesting few weeks ahead and I hope the Irish MEPs will stand up and be counted."

Cllr Eddie Mitchell said he attended that protest in Athlone which was 20,000 people gathered to oppose the deal. "I see massive pushback against a deal that needs to be stopped and people not noticing other things that are important."

He continued: "We didn't get a right to vote on Mercosur because it doesn't include the investor protection mechanism but they'll end up with it if we vote for investor protection anywhere else."

Cllr Padraig Fallon supported the comments of Cllr Barry and said he also attended the protest in Athlone. "This is a disastrous deal for consumers too."

He added: "I'd ask members of this local authority to liaise with their Oireachtas representatives, whoever they are, and ask them to support that motion on Tuesday."

Cllr Felim Gurn also supported the motion as did Cllr Irene Guckian-Rabbitte.