A mass protest is being held in Brussels this morning as farmers, including representatives from Carlow and Kilkenny, attempt to stop the Mercosur trade deal.
The EU’s planned agreement with Brazil is controversial as farming groups say it’ll allow lower quality beef into the European market.
Farmers also say recent cuts to the CAP budget mean they won’t be able to match up to this substandard competition.
French President Emmanuel Macron says he will firmly oppose the deal, giving the protestors some hope.
The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society’s spokesperson Edward Carr says they will fight until the end, noting; “You won’t know until Friday evening whether Ursula von der Leyen goes and signs the deal or not, it’ll never be decided until then you know what I mean so we certainly are going to let our voices be heard, this is completely unacceptable”.
UPDATE (11:30am, 18th Dec): Kilkenny IFA County Chair Brendan Hickey joined our Brian Redmond on The KCLR Daily this morning live from the protest;
