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THOUSANDS OF FARMERS and supporters came together in the centre of Ireland to voice anger over the EU’s incoming trade deal with South American countries.
At the packed Technological University of the Shannon sports centre in Athlone, conflicting opinions were voiced on what faces Irish farming after the Mercosur deal passed at a meeting of ambassadors at EU Council level yesterday.
Some protesters admitting to feeling disheartened, fearing they were fighting a battle “for a ship that has already sailed” given the deal has received support of 21 EU member states.
But others voiced a desire to kill the deal “stone dead” over the coming months as it goes to the European Parliament for ratification.
Prior to the rally, farmers took part in a a mock funeral procession with a coffin stating: “EU Food safety RIP.”
Elsewhere, placards depicted EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen as a vampire who was going to “suck the blood out of Irish farms” if the trade deal succeeds.
At today’s protest, called by Independent Ireland and attended by a number of political parties, farmers were backed by a wider rural community, ranging from hauliers to people in jobs that are intertwined with the fortunes of agriculture.
For more on what Mercosur entails, see here, but what has alarmed many European farmers, including in Ireland, is that they fear they will be undercut by a flow of cheaper goods from agricultural giant Brazil and its neighbours.
On today’s showing, organisers believe there is a clear desire for mobilisation on the issue in Ireland, even if some attending believe it’s already too late to halt the deal.
While it’s been pointed out this week by economists that the farming sector employs far fewer than previously – at about 4% now – it still commands a powerful lobby, particularly via the Irish Farmers Association (IFA).
But the turnout in Athlone also demonstrated that there is support for the efforts to stop the deal beyond farmers specifically, who viewed it as an opportunity to provide a show of strength for not just the sector, but the wider rural community.
Niall Earls, whose Co Galway company Easyfix provides supplies to farms, said he was attending because he fears that “any knock” to farming could hit back on his own job.
Earls also wanted to send a message to “supermarkets and retailers” that those behind the rally don’t want “lesser quality” South American beef on shelves.
He was joined by Karen Coffey, one of several members of the ‘The Blazers’ hunting club which came from the Athenry area.
The group counts 70 junior members – all under the age of 24 – and Coffey said many of these are farmers who want to stay living and working in their local community.
“These are people active in their communities, they’re involved and they want to stay involved,” Coffey said. “We have to turn out today to support them.”
It was a similar reason behind the attendance of Gerry Tully, manager of the Granard Agricultural Show in Co Longford.
“There’s only two agricultural shows left in Longford,” Tully told The Journal. “Those kind of shows bring rural communities show together and they bring the whole countryside together and they’re reliant on farmers and business.”
More solidarity came from the Irish Road Haulage Association, which declared it was attending in solidarity with farmers over concerns the deal will adversely impact Irish beef and livestock markets.
The EU Commission president said the deal was a strong signal that countries could work together in the face of an “increasingly hostile” and “transactional” world, in comments yesterday.
A view held by one Kilkenny farmer was that Donald Trump’s recent extraordinary threats against Greenland and actions against Venezuela had “focused minds” among global leaders.
“We know we’re small fry compared to that,” the man in his 30s said.
A bus carrying 40 people came from Gort, Co Galway, with the town’s local mart manager Bernie Fahey among the passengers.
Fahey told The Journal that was turning out as she sees Irish farmers getting “regulated up to the eyeballs” and believes they will be unduly punished if the deal comes to pass.
Fahey said Irish beef farming had recently seen “crazy” prices, after they were up an eye-watering 19.3% compared with the same period of 2024. The average increase across the EU was just 2.6%.
“But now we have this cloud hanging over us,” Fahey added.
The mart manager admitted that one of the of the difficult things facing opponents of Mercosur is that nobody is quite sure what it will mean for Irish farming if it comes to pass.
“It could be ten years from now – we don’t really know for sure, but we had to get out on the ground to day to make our voice heard,” Fahey said.
Noranne Cahill, a 23-year-old beef and suckler farmer also from Gort, hopes to stay in the family business, but for that to happen she wants to see “prices reflect the work we put in”.
Cahill added that it will be “disheartening” for her and her family the Mercosur deal eventually comes to pass.
Ireland was one of five countries to oppose the deal even as it was passed yesterday – France, Poland, Austria and Hungary also opposed it, while Belgium abstained. The remaining 21 EU states approved the agreement.
But a number of farmers we spoke to weren’t happy with the government, believing that they would have supported the deal if it came down to the wire. Italy had provided crucial support to get it over the line yesterday.
On this, Peadar Glennon from Co Roscommon said the government’s position was “laughable” this week.
While the opposition to the deal was outlined in the Programme for Government, Glennon said there’s a belief that senior ministers were willing to “play ball” with the EU and pass it.
“Every TD in the country had it up on Facebook saying they’re delighted Ireland’s voting no. I don’t think people are buying that,” Glennon said.
Glennon was among the farmers who admitted there were “double standards” at play in how farmers are opposing Brazilian beef.
While concerns have been aired about the quality of the beef due to the use of hormones, farmers themselves accepted that the Irish sector currently benefits from using South American animal feed that has been treated with chemicals.
“We have to draw the line somewhere,” Glennon said.
Weighing up what the deal means for farming, Professor Edgar Morgenroth in DCU’s business school said it will see Brazil export 99,000 tons of beef, 25,000 tons of pig meat, and 80,000 tons of poultry – or what he termed “represents a small percentage “of the EU’s total meat production.
However, Morgenroth said this figure is a “worst case scenario”, if taking the farming lobby’s concerns into account.
The 99,000 figure is instead a ceiling on the amount that will be exported, and these “amounts are not always actually traded” between blocs, Morgenroth said.
Morgenroth – who is a former farmer and IFA official – said the lobby had to be reckoned with by anyone hoping to get the deal over the line.
Aside from the IFA, a further nine farming organisations attended today’s rally seeking to stop the ratification of the deal.
“They’re very organised,” Morgenroth said, “but if you cut through it, they are a small sector. There is a lot of playing to the gallery on this,” he claimed.
Independent Ireland and its MEP Ciaran Mulooly are aiming to rouse the rural communities on the issue as they hope to put a stop to it passing in the European Parliament.
As well as Independent Ireland, parties including Sinn Féin and Aontú and Independent Midlands–North-West MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan joined to address the rally. A small number of protesters are also carryed Irish Republic flags.
Aontú TD Paul Lawless, who sits on the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, told The Journal that it will be hard to for farmers to swallow further regulations of the sector.
“But at the same time I don’t think any farmers are seriously looking for regulations to be dropped,” the Mayo TD said.
Flanagan, the Midlands–North-West MEP, told The Journal that while there were “definitely double standards” at play in how farmers are opposing Brazilian beef, despite farmers also using South American animal feed that has been treated with chemicals.
“It doesn’t away from the fact that there are problems with traceability of these products coming to the EU,” Flanagan said.
Addressing some of this concerns yesterday, the head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland Peter Power said that farmers’ concerns had resulted in “cast iron guarantees” that controls and checks will be increased on South American meat.
As for what’s next, Mullooly told the crowd that he has fielded calls from three Italian MEPS over the past 24 hours who are angry about their Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni giving the critical vote to get Merscosur over the line yesterday.
He said they must find “likeminded MEPs” across Europe who will support the anti-Mercosur banner and will be ramping up the campaign on this over the coming months.
But he expressed delight at having “unified” farming organisations for today, with the rally ending with a loud rendition of Ireland’s Call.
That saw farmers sing the famous lines declaring they would stand shoulder to shoulder over the times ahead, whatever they have in store.
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