The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has welcomed the cancellation of EU commissioner Peter Mandelson's visit here next weekend, which it said would have marred Treaty of Rome celebrations.
It has called off a protest it had planned for the Royal Hospital Kilmainham over the trade commissioner's stance in World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and his presence at an Irish agricultural event. It described as "a political misjudgment" and "a gross affront to Irish farmers" an invitation to Mr Mandelson to address a session of the AgriVision 2015 Committee next Friday in Dublin.
"For the past three years, Peter Mandelson has offered to destroy the family farm structure in Europe to make way for South American ranchers and traders, whose interests he is constantly promoting," said Pádraig Walshe, the IFA president.
"Both the Taoiseach and Minister [ Mary] Coughlan are on record that Mandelson cannot be trusted on the WTO," he added.
"I am mystified as to why Mary Coughlan would provide him with a platform in Ireland and the ultimate irony is to have Mandelson marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome while he is busy tearing it up," he said before the cancellation was announced.
This outburst forced the Minister for Agriculture to issue a special statement explaining the reason for the AgriVision 2015 event, which would, she said, provide the opportunity for the key agri-food players to hear and consider a full range of perspectives on the challenges and opportunities for the sector internationally.
She said the meeting would provide an opportunity to interact directly with the EU commissioner responsible for the vital WTO trade negotiations.
However, after confirmation that Mr Mandelson would not be in Dublin on Friday but in the Middle East, the IFA was privately claiming that its opposition to his coming here had led to the cancellation.
A statement from Mr Walshe at the weekend said the invitation to Mr Mandelson "was a political misjudgment and I welcome the realisation that it was a mistake".
"We can now move on and the IFA and farmers can wholeheartedly celebrate Europe's many achievements since the founding fathers set out their goals and objectives for the reconstruction of post-war Europe in the treaty signed in Rome on March 25th, 1957," he said.