SF consults with Fermanagh farmers

Sinn Féin held another meeting with farmers in Fermanagh on Monday night to debate many of the current difficulties within the sector, and to set out the party's priorities for agriculture going forward into this year's European Election.

Party agriculture spokespersons Cllr Gerry McHugh and Martin Ferris TD hosted the meeting, while the panel also included the MP for the area, Michelle Gildernew, and the party's spokesperson on EU affairs and European Election candidate, Bairbre de Brún.

Gerry McHugh told those assembled that Sinn Féin is working daily on agricultural issues, and daily on an all-Ireland basis. "Martin and myself, together with our staff, are continually raising concerns and policy issues both in the North and South. We are committed to extending this working base to Europe and giving Ireland, for the first time, all-Ireland representation in Europe."

Bairbre de Brún outlined the party position on the CAP reforms, the reasons why the party supports full decoupling and has lobbied for its introduction on an all-Ireland basis, and for the introduction of a hybrid model for calculating direct payments. Bairbre said "although the party was the first on the island to call for full decoupling, we are certainly not of the view that the CAP reforms are a panacea for Irish farmers. Many challenges lie ahead. We will be looking very closely at the proposals on cross compliance and voluntary modulation. The issue of cross compliance could have a huge impact on farms, and the use of modulated money to fund a rural development package, will have to be more farmer-friendly and practical in the future than the current one is."

Martin Ferris said that Sinn Féin is currently involved in a campaign to have the whole of the island designated a GM-free zone. "GM will tarnish the whole island on the world stage, and it will prove very difficult to sell what is seen as the best food in the world if there is perceived to be a risk from unproven GM technology," he said. "The British Government announced last week the possibility to grow GM maize under licence. We are completely opposed to this."

Questions from the large crowd ranged from issues on CAP reform to the Farm Quality assurance scheme, the inability to export beef, the importation of inferior food, and the role of the processing industry. Farmers were also concerned at the failure to deliver on animal health and the loss of jobs in the rural economy.