A series of meetings with farmers at marts in almost every county by Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has been described as “farcical” by IFA president Tim Cullinan.

The IFA president said the mart events held by Minister McConalogue to engage with farmers on the new CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 “were not a fair exchange”.

Cullinan was speaking on Wednesday as he sought to explain comments he made in recent days about the Minister’s engagement with farmers on the CAP.

The IFA president’s remarks led to criticism by some of Minister McConalogue’s Fianna Fáil colleagues.

No fair exchange

Clamping down, Cullinan said: “Minister McConalogue spoke and chaired [the mart meetings]. He chose the order in which people could ask questions.

He was up on the rostrum, in full control, while farmers were left to shout up from the back benches

“In some marts, the Minister was the only person with a microphone. He was up on the rostrum, in full control, while farmers were left to shout up from the back benches or from down in the ring itself.

“There was no formal notice of the meetings, with no overall list of dates published. Each one was announced at short notice in an ad-hoc way.”

IFA protests

Cullinan said it was only when his organisation organised protests at the meetings that significant numbers of farmers turned up.

“Furthermore, the Minister actually announced his CAP plan in the middle of his supposed ‘consultation’ tour.

“It was farcical and the only change he made since then was more eco-schemes.”

Fianna Fáil Ministers

Cullinan responded to tweets criticising his position. “The Fianna Fáil ministers who were critical of my comments at the weekend about Minister McConalogue’s mart meetings, would be better off going back to him to make the case for more funding for suckler cows, sheep and tillage farmers as well as a proper environment scheme.

“The Minister’s plan will short change farmers in these sectors, in particular.

IFA vice president Brian Rushe challenges Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue as he continued his CAP tour at Kilkenny Mart. \ Philip Doyle

“He has only allocated €52m per annum for suckler cows, when over €80m will be provided this year. The allocation for sheep is less than the original scheme.

“The reality is that this CAP reform will devastate the incomes of a cohort of our most productive farm families, particularly in the beef, sheep and tillage sectors.”

Cullinan said that Minister McConalogue was “told this by many genuine farmers” at the mart meetings.