THE GOVERNMENT's Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign was boosted yesterday by the decision of the State's second-largest farming organisation to recommend a Yes vote to its membership.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA), which claims 40,000 members, made its decision following a meeting with Taoiseach Brian Cowen in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday morning.
The decision was quickly criticised by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), the State's largest farming body, which claimed it was an attempt by the Government to isolate the IFA because of its stance on the Lisbon Treaty.
The IFA's 53-member ruling national council meets to discuss the treaty tomorrow.
It has declined to recommend a Yes vote in the absence of a Government commitment to veto a world trade deal that would be damaging to Irish agriculture.
"This is obviously a cynical manoeuvre by the Government to divide farmers in the run-up to the referendum and the WTO negotiations in Geneva," the IFA said in a statement.
"The ICMSA appears to have bought an empty promise, as there are no figures and no details in the deal with the Taoiseach."
The farming groups, including the ICMSA, are opposed to proposals tabled in the Doha round of the WTO talks by EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson.
Both groups took part in a mass rally in April opposing the Mandelson proposals.
The ICMSA said yesterday its position on the WTO remained unchanged. Its president, Jackie Cahill, said the decision to endorse the treaty had not been reached lightly. "We got a cast-iron assurance from the Taoiseach that the current proposals on the table at the WTO will not be adopted by the Irish Government and that they are not acceptable to Ireland," said Mr Cahill.
"On that basis, we will be going to our national council on Wednesday looking for a positive recommendation of the Lisbon Treaty," he added.
IFA president Padraig Walsh was not available for comment yesterday. On Saturday, he told RTÉ that many delegates at tomorrow's national council meeting would be looking for a No vote in the absence of a firm commitment from the Government on a WTO veto.
"I couldn't call it but I can guarantee that there won't be a Yes and there is a strong possibility of a No," he said.
Mr Cowen said yesterday he had assured the ICMSA leadership that the Government would not accept a WTO deal that was unbalanced and undermined farmers' interests.
The Taoiseach, who was canvassing at Kilbeggan races, said a Yes vote would in no way change the unanimity required in the event of a WTO deal.
Both Mr Cowen and the IFA confirmed yesterday that there had been ongoing discussion at senior official level over the past week but that the Taoiseach had yet to meet with the organisation.
Elsewhere yesterday, Mr Cowen challenged the arguments advanced by anti-treaty groups about Ireland's representation at the European Commission and European Council in the event of the Lisbon Treaty being passed.
In a statement, he said that Ireland, with four million people, would have the exact same representation on the commission as Germany.
"In terms of voting in the Council of Ministers, we are hearing one of the most deliberately and cynically misleading claims of them all, with the idea that our voting weight is being halved," he said.
"The truth is that we negotiated an entirely new voting system which ensures a fair balance which requires population and member states to be counted separately."
Under the proposed new voting system, every single decision requires the support of at least nine of the smaller member states like Ireland, he said.
"If you want small member states to have a stronger voice, then you should vote Yes."