Tipperary farmers are bracing themselves as the prospect of a hard Brexit looks ever more likely.
EU and UK officials are holding talks in Brussels, to try to resolve the ongoing controversy over the Brexit withdrawal agreement, aimed at avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.
The European Commission is taking legal action, after the British government announced it would seek to overrule parts of the agreement.
Speaking to Tipp FM’s Jim Finn IFA President and Toomevara pig farmer Tim Cullinan said Ireland exported 4.5 billion Euro worth of food products to the British market last year.
“40% of our beef is going in there, 20% of our dairy, 20% of our pork and 90% of the mushrooms – and there are some mushroom producers here in Tipperary as well.”
“Obviously that’s very worrying – if we end up in a crash-out or no deal scenario then the tariff rate on beef is up to 70%, on dairy products up to 40% and pork I think is at 30%.”
“So obviously it would decimate the beef sector particularly in Ireland.”
And you can hear the full interview with Tim Cullinan on Ag-Report here on Tipp FM from 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.
