Libertas.org

The IFA's last minute U-turn on the Lisbon treaty was "disappointing, but totally to be expected" Libertas Executive Director Naoise Nunn said this evening.

Mr. Nunn said that IFA President Padraig Walshe had been eager to "avoid the blame" for a "No" vote:

"The fact of the matter is that the position of ordinary Irish farmers is exactly the same now as it was this morning. Nothing happened today to reassure farmers that their future is secure.

If there is a "yes" vote, and in ten years time, Irish farming is in its death throes, people will look back at June 3rd 2008 as the day the IFA signed the warrant for its own execution.

There is no veto right on WTO talks. The IFA may have chosen not to believe this now, but in the next few months, if the treaty is passed, they will come to see exactly what we mean".