The Catholic Primate, Dr Sean Brady, has described the scale of proposed changes in the EU's Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform as excessive.
He said he had been reliably assured that the absence of any support package for farmers here would very likely see a drop of 15 per cent in farm incomes. This "would certainly mean no next generation of dairy farmers in these islands," he said.
Dr Brady, along with the Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, and the Presbyterian Church's Moderator, Dr John Dixon, was attending the launch of a Farmer's Journal study, "Globalisation in Agriculture", in Dublin yesterday. The President of the Methodist Church, the Rev David Kerr, conveyed his support to the launch.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, some of his officials, and the IFA leader, Mr Tom Parlon, were present.
The study places particular emphasis on free trade experiences in the US, Argentina, and New Zealand. It found that, in conjunction with the proposed CAP reforms, the future for farmers in Ireland is very bleak.
The study was presented by Mr Matt Dempsey, editor of the Farmer's Journal, who said this was the first time he could remember when there had been "a deliberate sustained turning of backs on agriculture" in Ireland.
Mr Walsh welcomed the support of the church leaders.
