KCLR News: Views on Mercosur and modern farming from Kilkenny Mart (9th Jan 2026)

The Irish Government will not support the EU's Mercosur trade deal with South America, with Tánasite Simon Harris in touch with The KCLR Daily yesterday (Thursday, 8th Jan) to confirm the coalition's position. However, given the supportive noises made by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni about the deal earlier this week, it would now be a huge surprise if the agreement failed to reach the qualified majority of Member State votes required to rubber stamp a deal that's been 25 years in the making. Shortly after we heard from Simon Harris, KCLR's Dermot Keyes made the short trip to Kilkenny Mart at Cillín Hill to get the views of local farmers and Mart CEO Michael Lynch about both Mercosur and general farming life, and this package kicks off with Dermot in conversation with Michael Lynch.