IFA No CAP Cuts Campaign to Coincide with EU Summit

IFA has announced the details of the ‘NO CAP CUTS” campaign it will run this week to coincide with the informal EU Heads of State meeting in Dublin.

The latest phase of the campaign will commence with a number of County Executives creating ‘NO CAP CUTS’ messaging around the country.

This started yesterday with Westmeath IFA ploughing a message into the ground. See video here.

Over the coming days, other County Executives are making signs, some of which can be seen from the air. This will include one ploughed into a 40-acre field beside Dublin Airport.

On Friday, IFA will host a CAP Rally in Dublin City centre venue (Clayton Hotel, Cardiff Lane, D2. D02 YT21) close to the Convention Centre.

This will be attended by the President of COPA Massimiliano Giansanti and the Secretary General of COPA/COGECA Elli Tsiforou. The President of COGECA Lennart Nilsson will also attend.

“At the Rally, COPA/COGECA will launch their EU-wide campaign ‘CAP grows our defence’ which will be rolled out across Europe to highlight the importance of the CAP in the context of the EU’s defence and security,” he said.

IFA President Francie Gorman said “The proposed 24% cuts to the EU CAP budget are savage. We want to drive home the message that this is totally unacceptable. Ultimately, the EU budget including the CAP is a matter for the EU Heads of State who are all in Dublin this week.”

“Over the past three weeks IFA has been meeting and engaging with the Gardaí. We were planning to have a large protest in Dublin during the summit. However, it became clear that this would not be effective given the huge security operation around the Convention Centre,” he said.

“I would encourage all farmers to visit the IFA CAP Hub (www.ifa.ie/cap), inform themselves of the scale of the proposed cuts, and engage with their local, national and European political representatives that it simply isn’t good enough. More CAP funding is needed.”