Mercosur protest expected to draw crowd of 10,000

More than 1,000 tractors and lorries have already pre-registered for Independent Ireland’s protest against the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement leading organisers to expect that up to 10,000 people will take to the streets of Athlone on foot or in tractors this weekend.

The protest is set to kick off this Saturday at 11am, with those travelling to the demonstration to be directed to their respective assembly points by stewards posted to approach roads to the town.

Those attending have been advised to heed the directions of both stewards and gardaí over the course of the demonstration.

The demonstration will end at Technological University of the Shannon,Athlone, where protesters will be directed into an indoor arena and an overflow astroturfed area to hear political and farm sector leaders speak on the Mercosur deal.

Independent Ireland planned the protest to heap pressure on the Irish Government, MEPs, the European Commission and other member states to reject the proposed EU-Mercosur free trade deal that would open EU markets up to an extra 99,000t of South American beef at discounted tariff rates.

The demonstration will come as the Commission is upping the ante on member states to rubber stamp the deal that has been over 25 years in the making.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has been invited to attend amid Independent Ireland MEP Ciarán Mullooly’s warning that the gathering – pitched as “one of the largest ever of Ireland’s farming community” – will be “dangerous to ignore”.

“If the message is ignored, you could see protests at the EU presidency summits in July,” the midlands-north-west MEP told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“That is not what I want from the presidency, but it is on the European Commission and the Government to show that they are paying attention.

“Saturday will be about sending a message, putting out a show of strength from the farming sector and the community more generally about our opposition to this deal.”

An Garda Síochána declined to comment on the traffic disruptions expected to result from Saturday’s protest, stating that “there is a constitutional right to assemble peaceably”.