This article is from page 38 of the 2008-08-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
WHILE French President Nicolas Sarkozy may not have won too many Irish friends as a result of his stance on the Lisbon Treaty, his standing within the farming community has skyrocketed this week following the breakdown of the World Trade Or- ganisation talks.
IFA president Padraig Walshe last week credited the French and current EU president with defending Irish and EU farmers and in particular the Irish Beef Sector.
Speaking following the breakdown of WTO talks in Geneva last week, the IFA president was heavily criti- cal of EU commissioner Peter Man-
delson and said that the collapse was a good thing for all sectors of Irish society.
“T want to dispel the notion that the country had missed out on an oppor- tunity as a result of the collapse of the talks. Instead, the entire country had been spared from a damaging agreement that offered no gains for the industrial or services sectors and would have cost <4 billion in losses in the agriculture and food indus- tries,’ he said. “Peter Mandelson may be a re- nowned politician, but he was an inept negotiator. I would like to re- iterated my call on the Tanaiste to support the French in now tearing up the EU WTO offer as the other parties have walked away from the table.” Reacting to the WTO collapse, Tanaiste and Minister for Enter- prise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, said that Ireland must continue to asset it’s interests in the talks process. “Irish ministers have used every opportunity, whether through meet- ings of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council or bilat- erally with various countries, includ- ing the French Presidency of the EU as well as the EU Commission, to assert Ireland’s interests,’ said the former agriculture minister. “Tam disappointment that it has not been possible for the WTO to agree a new deal but I acknowledge that the negotiations represented a very com- plex process covering a wide range of areas.” Current Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, said that throughout the long series of meetings, he had continued to ex- press the Government’s strong con- cerns about the agriculture propos- als and, in particular, the potential impact of the proposals on the Irish beef sector. Since 2004, the Minister for Agri- culture ensured that Ireland played a central role, along with a number of like-minded countries, 1n protecting the interests of European agricul- nehden