The European Commission should treat dairy in Ireland like French champagne, deputy president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Alice Doyle has said.

Speaking at the Irish Farmers Journal stand at the Ploughing, Doyle said that with regard to the nitrates derogation, Irish dairy should have the same allowances made for it as other food and drink sectors do across the EU.

“We keep saying we’re grass-based, we’re different. The Europeans mightn’t see it that way. We’re as entitled to be good at doing something different as the French are at producing champagne, doing it well and they’re allowed do it.

“There are derogations in all sorts of products, not just in dairy. So it has to be considered from that point of view.

“Are we hopeful that it [the nitrates derogation] will be retained? I hope it will be for the future of farming in this country, because it doesn’t just affect dairy.

“Sometimes some people think it’s just dairy that’s affected by it. It’s the whole agricultural industry,” she added.

Rural economy

On the same panel, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) Denis Drennan said the importance of the derogation to rural Ireland and the whole Irish economy “can’t be stressed enough”.

Drennan added that areas across the country where processors are based rely on the dairy industry for employment.

“There aren’t options like Google, TikTok and Facebook [for employment].

“They’re the businesses that drive those communities, parishes, hurling clubs, creches, schools. That’s the money that circulates in those economies,” he said.