Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has this morning called on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to “stop speaking out of both sides of their mouth on Mercosur and officially notify the EU Commission of Ireland’s opposition to the disastrous trade deal.”

Ms McDonald made the comments as European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is in South America with the aim of finalising the deal.

The Sinn Féin leader said:

“Clearly, the EU Commission is hell-bent on finalising Mercosur, a trade deal that would be disastrous for Irish agriculture. Time is running out. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael must stop speaking out of both sides of their mouths on Mercosur. The caretaker government must take action and immediately notify the EU Commission of Ireland’s official opposition to the deal.

“Mercosur offers nothing positive for Ireland. It will put farmers and our environment in a much weaker position. The risks to Irish agriculture from the entry of hundreds of thousands of additional tonnes of South American beef into the EU market cannot be underestimated. The deal is bad for farming – our most important indigenous sector, bad for our overall economy and disastrous for the environment.

“Sinn Féin stands four-square with Irish farmers in opposition to this regressive and rotten trade deal.It is not right for Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to tell our farming community that they’re opposed to the deal while doing nothing to stop it. The constant contradiction is insulting to farmers.

“Micheál Martin and Simon Harris cannot continue to sit on their hands with the future of Irish agriculture on the line. They’ve wasted so much time already. They must tell the EU Commission today – plain and straight – that Ireland opposes Mercosur.”