Ciarán Mullooly: Tanks Sent to Remove Farmers, 'Disgusting'
Ciarán Mullooly, MEP, addressed the Commission after viewing images of defence forces reportedly deployed to remove farmers protesting fuel prices in Ireland. He called for immediate dialogue, urgent state aid flexibility and a new EU emergency resilience instrument ahead of the autumn.
What he saw
Ciarán Mullooly describes watching pictures on his phone of army tanks being used to remove farmers from public roads in his member state, Ireland. He questions the maturity of that response and points to the decision being taken by the Taoiseach.
Immediate demands
Mullooly urges the Commission and member states to prioritise dialogue with farmers and to re-examine tax measures such as VAT relief. He presses for urgent state aid flexibility to support haulage, agriculture, fisheries, rural SMEs and households dependent on home heating oil.
Proposed EU response
The MEP calls for the Commission to fast-track and expand state aid measures now and to begin preparing a new RRF-style emergency resilience instrument at EU level to address a prolonged crisis expected into the autumn.
Human impact and tone
Throughout his address Mullooly stresses the human cost: farmers need answers, hope and commitments, not military removal. He concludes with a stark appeal to treat individuals with dignity and to stop using force against protesters.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the Commission for the update on, as you say, Chair, what we know of what's going on in Europe at the moment. I'm watching pictures, Chair, on my mobile phone of tanks, army tanks, going into parts of my member state, Ireland, sent there by the Irish Government this morning to remove farmers from the sides of roads, public roads, where they are protesting over the price of fuel. And I'm saying to myself, is this immature reaction? Should we not be trying to create some dialogue with farmers and show them positivity in terms of what can be achieved in the coming months? But no, we're going with a hammer, and I remind the members in this room that this decision was made by the President, the Taoiseach of our country, who will be President of Europe in July. This is his mature judgment, is it? To go at it with a hammer this morning, sending in the defence forces, an army, to take farmers. Farmers need answers. They need dialogue. They need hope. They need commitments going forward. They need from the member states. The tax issue, the VAT issue, has to be relooked at immediately. But this House, this Commission has to play its role. We need to see urgent state aid flexibility, which will allow people to be prioritised in the coming months. And I think the Commission, I ask the Commission to look at expanding and fast-tracking state aid for haulage, agriculture, fisheries, who are on their knees as well, or rural SMEs and households dependent on home heating oil. I really think we need a new EU-level emergency fund. We're going to need this. It's not a short-term problem. We're going to need a new RRF-style emergency resilience instrument at European level. We're going to need it in the autumn. We should start preparing for it. So I appeal to the Commission to start progress on this issue immediately. And for God's sake, treat individuals as human beings. Do not be sending tanks out to remove farmers from the side of the road. That's disgusting.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
