"It is the farmer at the end of the day, the man that is out in the morning and out during the night calving cows, that will be hit the most by Brexit," Cork farmer Maurice Walsh has said.
Walsh, who is the east and north Cork chair of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), said that he was was worried, and that that was an understatement, about the future as a result of Brexit.
Hit
Speaking on Prime Time, he said: “We’re the ones that are going to be hit.
“Dairying is extremely important in this part of Cork. Cork is responsible for 25% of the milk that is produced in Ireland, that’s more than Ulster and Leinster put together.
“It’s the backbone of dairying. Everybody in the surrounding area, survives on dairy and farming.
"Brexit is a snowball coming down our road for the last two years or more. Here we are in this situation, where we go from here I just don’t know,” he said.
Shackles were on
Walsh said that since the 1980s, the shackles were on and dairy farmers were restricted on how much milk they could produce.
Maurice Walsh (centre) at an ICMSA AGM. \ Diarmuid Greene/Fusionshooters
“[Quotas] were lifted and personally we were told that there’s a market there for our product and we went on, expanding our farms and our herds. We’re in this situation now and we’ve got a lot of payments to pay back to the banks and stuff like that.
“In the event of a no-deal Brexit, Ireland is the most exposed EU member state.
"Farming is the most exposed industry in Ireland and not alone dairy, but beef, unfortunately, is being hit down the road and that’s going to take a big impact,” he said.
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"It is the farmer at the end of the day, the man that is out in the morning and out during the night calving cows, that will be hit the most by Brexit," Cork farmer Maurice Walsh has said.
Walsh, who is the east and north Cork chair of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), said that he was was worried, and that that was an understatement, about the future as a result of Brexit.
Hit
Speaking on Prime Time, he said: “We’re the ones that are going to be hit.
“Dairying is extremely important in this part of Cork. Cork is responsible for 25% of the milk that is produced in Ireland, that’s more than Ulster and Leinster put together.
“It’s the backbone of dairying. Everybody in the surrounding area, survives on dairy and farming.
"Brexit is a snowball coming down our road for the last two years or more. Here we are in this situation, where we go from here I just don’t know,” he said.
Shackles were on
Walsh said that since the 1980s, the shackles were on and dairy farmers were restricted on how much milk they could produce.
Maurice Walsh (centre) at an ICMSA AGM. \ Diarmuid Greene/Fusionshooters
“[Quotas] were lifted and personally we were told that there’s a market there for our product and we went on, expanding our farms and our herds. We’re in this situation now and we’ve got a lot of payments to pay back to the banks and stuff like that.
“In the event of a no-deal Brexit, Ireland is the most exposed EU member state.
"Farming is the most exposed industry in Ireland and not alone dairy, but beef, unfortunately, is being hit down the road and that’s going to take a big impact,” he said.
Read more
State aid support limit to farmers raised up to €25,000
‘We can’t compete’ – suckler farmers react to tariffs in no-deal Brexit
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