Agriculture needs all-Ireland approach

BY ROISIN DE ROSA

Gerry McHugh

Michelle Gildernew led off the debate on agriculture, rural development, tourism and transport, and there were many resolutions to discuss on each of these hugely important issues. The session began with agriculture and rural development, which are interdependent.

Michelle, who had just returned from a delegation visit to Brussels to lobby on behalf of farmers and fishing interests, reported on the trip and discussed some of the grave changes which face Ireland in the coming years. She pointed out that the British Minister had no interest whatsoever in advancing the concerns of Irish farmers or of fishermen in the EU -- that their needs and local interests could only be met on an all-Ireland basis.

The 'four green fields' and the interests of those who farm them, as the interests of those who fish the 'waters surrounding our island' were never to be advanced on a partitionist basis. Partition has meant the haemorrhaging of farmers, of their rural communities, and of opportunities for rural development.

She announced that Sinn Féin will make the Ploughing Championships, which take place in County Cork this year, a major event in the party's Céad Bliain celebrations,

Alternative crops

Kerry TD Martin Ferris spoke of the recent changes in CAP and warned against regarding this as a panacea for all ills. Decoupling means diversification into alternative crops and is essential for the survival of farming, he said. It is because of this that the resource cuts in Teagasc, including the closure of the Ballinamore research centre, represent such a disastrous step by the Dublin government Research and development, especially into bio-fuel crop production, is urgently needed to face the challenges of the future of farming in today's Ireland.

Martin discussed developments in the agricultural co-ops, which have become PLCs. He said they need to be taken back under control of local farmers as a means of ensuring that farmers receive adequate payment for their produce. He also called for the re-establishment of a land commission to help farmers by buying land and leasing to farmers who need to expand their holdings to remain viable. He spoke of the need to ringfence milk quotas where, with the decline in prices, a minimum quota of at least 100,000 gallons in required if a dairy farm is to remain viable.

GM Foods

Two key resolutions, calling for a moratorium on GM food production in Ireland and for all local councillors to campaign for changes to their development plans so as to declare counties GM free, were proposed by Councillor Martin Kenny from Leitrim. He pointed out that GM foods were about "imperialists and other vested interests who sought control of global food markets, through the power to determine who eats what, produced by whom".

Gerry McHugh spoke of the threat to agriculture over the coming decade, where any funding coming from the EU will need to be matched by funding from local state resources. "Does anyone expect the British government to match these funds, or, for that matter, the Dublin Government to do so?" he asked.

Exploitation in tourism

Councillor Billy Leonard told of the appaling conditions of migrant workers and the exploitation of all workers in the tourism sector. Some 22% of workers in this key industry have no qualification, no career path or structure through which to gain qualifications. He called on the Ard Fheis to support the call for an all-Ireland approach to training and certification, which needs to be standardised across the whole island's tourism industry so that we can work to end the exploitation of workers.

Speakers raised the issue of forestry and the slaughter practices on fur farms of mink and foxes.

The debate closed with Councillor Pádraig Mac Lochlainn from Donegal, who spoke angrily of the jobs crisis in the region. He condemned Mary Harney for her partitionist approach, which has severed Donegal from Derry: "Our jobs crisis in Donegal will never be resolved through partitionist approach, but only on an all-Ireland basis," he said.