IFA president: Brexit deal a relief – but little to celebrate
IFA president Tim Cullinan has said the deal reached between the EU and the UK is a relief, but that it will pose significant difficulties for the Irish agri-food sector. “The work of the two sides to avoid a ‘no-deal’ has to be acknowledged, particularly after four years of damaging uncertainty which had an impact on farm incomes. However, the eventual outcome leaves little reason to celebrate,” he said.
The IFA president commended the work of the EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier for his patience and perseverance in pursuit of an outcome that steered away from a crash-out situation.
“We have real concerns about how non-tariff barriers will impact on our ability to keep trade flows moving,” he said. Mr Cullinan referred to the scenes at Dover, with hundreds of trucks backed up and freight delayed, and that “does not bode well”.
“Green Lanes have been implemented previously for food exports. These must be prioritised after Jan 1st,” he said. He also said the Government and the EU must have the €400m support fund for Irish farmers ready in the new year to address any market disturbance. The
€5bn EU Brexit adjustment fund must also be available. Mr Cullinan said the longerterm implication for our food exports could be the flooding of the UK market by cheap imports. “Farmers here on the island of Ireland and in the UK are steadfast in their view of standards. The danger is that the deal isn’t robust enough to ensure the regulations of the Single Market are adhered to.
“We know the UK agenda is to offer access to their food market to Australia, New Zealand Canada, the US and the Mercosur countries of South America in exchange for trade deals with those countries. If that happens, then the value of the UK market for Irish food exports will be cut and Irish farmers will suffer huge income losses, with knock-on effects on EU markets. The level playing field provisions built into this deal by the EU must stop any race to the bottom,” he said. Mr Cullinan said that the IFA will be analysing the detail of the deal to evaluate the impact on Irish food exports.
“We have consistently said that Irish farmers are at the top of the queue, and that the Irish Government will have to bring forward support for our farming sector,” he said.
THE NEW YEAR
The Sligo Weekender’s front page of the 2020 carried the happy news of the birth of a baby on the first day of the new year and the sad passing of a well-known west Sligo man on the final day of the old one.
There was a photo of Nessa Sweeney from Manorhamilton with her son (then without a name) who was born at 10.30am on January 1, 2020, at Sligo University Hospital. At the other end of life, tributes were being paid to Easkey GAA stalwart Willie Maloney, who had passed away peacefully at his home at Killeenduff, Easkey, on December 31, 2019, aged 86, who was known throughout Sligo and further afield through his 70 years of involvement with the GAA.
The Sligo Weekender’s lead story reported that an investigation was under way after the image of a man who was the alleged victim of an assault involving a knife in Sligo on Christmas Eve was leaked from Sligo University Hospital’s A&E department.
The image, taken from CCTV at the hospital, had been circulated on social media platforms and had been published in several media outlets. SAD PASSING OF
FORMER COUNCILLOR
The second week in January brought news of the passing of John Harrison, who served as a Sligo borough councillor for over 20 years and was Mayor of Sligo in 1976 and 1987. He was conferred with the Freedom of the Borough in 1997. He had also been principal of Ballinode
College for over 25 years and was secretary of Feis Shligigh for many years.
Sligo’s O’Connell Street closed to traffic on January 6 to facilitate the completion of the street’s enhancement project.
There was much opposition to a plan to hold a commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary
(RIC) and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) on January 17 and cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council Tom MacSharry announced that he had declined an invite to attend. The event was eventually deferred.
The following week brought news of general election to the held on Saturday, February 8, and as campaigning got underway the entry into the race of former MEP Marian Harkin really shook things up in the
Sligo-Leitrim constituency, where people had been predicting that the status quo of two Fianna Fáil, one Fine Gael and one Sinn Féin seat would remain.
A meeting of Sligo County Council was told that there would be a decision on the future for Connaughton Road car park in the coming months, following the McGinley family moving out in November of 2019. Councillors were told the car park held a “strategic” value to the council.
RECORD NUMBER OF CANDIDATES
The Sligo Weekender’s edition of January 23 reported that a record number of candidates had been nominated for the Sligo-Leitrim constituency for the general election. The close of nominations on the previous day provided a total of 19 names for the ballot paper and it could have been 20 only Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus pulled out of the race.
A former Sligo mayor, Kathleen (Kay) McGoldrick, passed away this week. The former Fine Gael representative was a councillor from 1979 until 1994.
In the last week of the month it was announced that Fr Paul Dempsey, aged 48, then parish priest of Newbridge, Co. Kildare, would be the new Bishop of Achonry and would be the youngest bishop in Ireland.
It was also announced that Amanda McCloat was to be acting president of St Angela’s College following the retirement of Dr Anne Taheny, president for 14 years.