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Sinn Féin: Brexit could devastate north's farming industry

Euro MP Matt Carthy said European subsidies to the region's farmers, totalling £236 million a year through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), were unlikely to be maintained at the same level under a post-Brexit UK government.
Euro MP Matt Carthy said European subsidies to the region's farmers, totalling £236 million a year through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), were unlikely to be maintained at the same level under a post-Brexit UK government. Euro MP Matt Carthy said European subsidies to the region's farmers, totalling £236 million a year through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), were unlikely to be maintained at the same level under a post-Brexit UK government.

Brexit could herald the end of the small family farm in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein has warned.

The region's farming and agri-food industry would be devastated by tariffs and restrictions on movement across the Irish border, the republican party claimed as it launched a new policy document on the sector.

Euro MP Matt Carthy said the potential negative impact on farmers highlighted the need to attain special EU designated status for Northern Ireland when the rest of the UK leaves the EU.

He said European subsidies to the region's farmers, totalling £236 million a year through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), were unlikely to be maintained at the same level under a post-Brexit UK government.

"Irish agriculture operates much better when it is operating on an all-Ireland basis - it's too small a country to have farmers competing against each other on price and any barriers that are put in place will prove difficult," he said at an event at Enniskillen Farmers' Market.

"What special designated status means is that the North, to all intents and purposes, remains part of the EU - it remains part of the single market, the customs union and is able to draw down CAP funding into the future."

He also warned the region's market could be flooded with cheap unchecked imports if EU food safety regulations cease to apply.

Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew echoed her party colleague's comments.

"I think farming is going to be much less sustainable in Brexit, in fact we could see an end to the small family farm as we know it today," she said.

The former Stormont agriculture minister said those farmers who voted for Brexit had been "sold a pup" and "led down the garden path" by campaigners who asserted they would be freed from red tape.

"I think some farmers were convinced by political parties with a very narrow political agenda that they would be better off out of Europe and I think the realisation is coming home to them now that that is not the case," she said.

Meanwhile, Ireland's tax chief is "almost 100% certain" there will be no new customs posts along the Irish border after Brexit.

Niall Cody, chairman of Revenue Commissioners, categorically rejected reports that it was actively looking for locations to establish new checkpoints.

The speculation, which he blamed on an early contingency paper from a "medium ranking" official, has led to landowners along the Irish border directly offering him sites for sale.

But Mr Cody told a parliamentary committee in Dublin: "We are not planning customs posts."

The 310-mile border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will become an EU/UK frontier after Britain pulls out of the EU.

A hardening of the border, which has become virtually invisible as a result of Ireland's peace process, could threaten peace and prosperity on the island, it has been warned.

However, Mr Cody said an ongoing analysis of cross-border trade increasingly shows that most goods transported between the jurisdictions will not need to be physically checked.

Much of it is agri-food and construction related, and can be documented online. There are also existing Revenue offices in border counties where traders can carry out their necessary paperwork.

"I'm practically 100% certain we will not be providing new trade facilitation bays in whatever parts of Donegal, Monaghan or Cavan," he said, referring to a number of the border counties.

Mr Cody also told the parliamentary committee that Revenue is not negotiating with HM Revenue and Customs in Britain on post-Brexit arrangements.

It was assessing all the implications and options, while upgrading its IT systems and recruiting more staff, as it prepared for the outcome of the political negotiations, he said.