Eleven MEPs from the European Parliament's Agriculture and Rural Development Committee are due to arrive in Ireland for a three-day visit this Tuesday, Irish committee members Matt Carthy and Mairead McGuuinness have announced.

They will first visit a farm and a community centre in Co Monaghan and meet representatives of the IFA, UFU and INHFA.

Ministerial meeting

The delegation, led by committee chair and Polish MEP Czeslaw Adam Siekierski, will spend Wednesday at the National Ploughing Championships where they will hold several meetings including with Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed.

The visit will also take in counties Louth, Meath, Kildare and Roscommon. Other meetings will include the ICSA, Bord Bia, and members of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee.

"It will be an ideal opportunity for MEPs from across Europe to hear of Irish concerns regarding Brexit and the future of the Common Agriculture Policy," said MEP Carthy. The committee will form the European Parliament's position on the next CAP in the coming months and will have a say in any potential Brexit deal with the UK.

MEPs are up for election next May.