Michelle O’Neill interview: rural priorities
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill shares her priorities with Owen McQuade as reform proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy are finalised. She also wants the rural white paper to make a real difference in the countryside.
Getting the best deal out of CAP reform for local farmers is Michelle O’Neill’s main priority as the European Commission prepares to publish its proposals. In addition, she wants to encourage more growth in the prospering agri-food sector at a time when the rest of the economy is stalling.
The plans will be announced on 12 October, after which DARD will consult on the way forward. She recognises the concern among farmers about some of the leaks and the draft proposals, particularly around the definition of “greening” and the budget.
O’Neill shares a common approach to CAP with the Republic’s Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, who is also due to hold the relevant presidency in the Council of Ministers when the decision is taken (January-June 2013).
“Obviously, he’s a very good key ally to work with,” she comments. “We’re also obviously working with Defra, and our Scottish and Welsh colleagues, but we wouldn’t necessarily share the view of Defra in their approach to Europe and to CAP.”
A nominal freeze in the CAP budget has been proposed but she is wary of that changing throughout the negotiations: “We just have to be fighting very strong, using every avenue that we have to get the best deal for our farmers locally. They’re very, very dependent on the money that comes from CAP.”
O’Neill has presented DARD’s proposals in person in Brussels. CAP is now subject to co-decision between the Council and the European Parliament, and she and Coveney plan to host a meeting of all 15 of the island’s MEPs, to ensure that they speak with the same message.
Growth
Agri-food has performed well despite the recession and remains a major economic sector with 55,000 employees and a £3.7 billion annual turnover. In addition, the Republic has 150,000 agri-food employees and a £20 billion turnover.
“This sector seems to be the shining light. This sector’s the one that’s giving hope,” the Minister remarks. The Focus on Food strategy has, in her view, been successful since its launch in June 2010 but she wants to take this support further by setting up a strategy board, which will set targets for 2020. The board will be formed as early as possible in 2012.
Her thinking is influenced by the southern Food Harvest 2020 strategy, although journalists have also termed it ‘Milk 2020’ for its emphasis on dairy e.g. a doubling of milk production by that date. The Minister hopes that the North can follow this example and increase its export market.
Within agriculture, her priority is to eradicate brucellosis by 2014. The Republic is already free, northern rates are “already on a downward trend” (down from 1.1 per cent of herds in 2008 to 0.4 per cent last year) and she expects to reach that target. There is a three-year time lag between testing and the declaration.
Much more work is needed to eradicate bovine TB, found in 5.1 per cent of herds last year. DARD is researching the link between infection in badgers and cattle. She cautions against a cull, unless scientific evidence supports that decision.
The all-island animal health and welfare strategy, agreed by the North/South Ministerial Council in March 2010, will be “key to helping us prevent and reduce disease … and increasing trade across the island” and therefore making the industry more sustainable.
DARD is also putting a considerable effort in updating farm maps, covering over 150,000 fields. The Land Parcel Identification System Improvement Project is due to be completed in 2012. It cannot happen any sooner, she emphasises, due to the “sheer volume” of the work and the need for farmers to check the new maps. This follows on from the €33.7 million single farm payment disallowance, imposed last year after the European Commission found faults in existing maps.
A rural white paper
Rural development was a major interest for Michelle Gildernew and O’Neill plans to bring forward a white paper by the end of 2011. This follows on from a manifesto commitment from Sinn Féin, in March 2007, and Gildernew ensured that cross- party support for the move in the Executive. A consultation document was published in March 2011 and O’Neill is now following this up with other ministers.
“It’s about rural rights and rural protection,” she explains. “And it’s about getting departments to work together and always being mindful of the need for looking at the impact that certain policies will have on rural communities.”
When it is put to her that this is a hard sell, given that Northern Ireland’s centre of gravity is in the more urban east, she points to the “Executive buy-in” rather than individual lobbying from her. All the parties also want it to deliver in their MLAs’ constituencies.
The consultation showed that people found the initial wording vague and wanted more definitive targets; the final version will include over 90 actions.
“We wouldn’t have gone through this whole process for anything that’s aspirational,” she states. “It has to be a deliverable, achievable document.”
To take one concrete step, the Minister is “absolutely committed” to moving DARD out of its urban headquarters: Dundonald House. A project team has been established and £13 million set aside for that purpose. The Department of Finance and Personnel is also involved, as it runs the Civil Service estate. She hopes to bring a paper on locations to the Executive before Christmas.
“This is about setting a way in terms of bringing high quality public sector jobs into the rural community and the knock- on effect will be significant for any local economy,” she reiterates. “We’ve an opportunity to set the way here and I’m not going to let it pass by.”
It is put to her that decentralisation has had mixed results in the Republic, and she is keen to learn from those mistakes and do it better. Rural MLAs will naturally lobby for DARD to be located in their constituencies but the decision will have to be based on “straightforward criteria” and a “logical reason”.
Fisheries, by comparison to agriculture, is a small sector (with around 600 fishermen) but one with a high profile. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) review is due to report in late 2012. DARD is “working very closely” with the industry to get the best quotas in the annual negotiations, in November and December. Prawns are the province’s main catch and stocks are good. She expects this to be “very intense,” based on Gildernew’s experience, with talks continuing into the early hours of the last 2-3 days.
Sinn Féin was criticised for not taking an ‘economic department’ such as DETI this time round. However, O’Neill contends: “The best economic department at the minute is this one because [of] the strength of the agri-food sector and the fact that it’s continuing to grow and has a really positive future.”
Equality and unity
O’Neill is one of three Sinn Féin MLAs for Mid Ulster, having been elected in 2007. She was Deputy Chair of the Health Committee in the last Assembly and was a constituency worker for fellow MLA Francie Molloy prior to her election. From 2005 to 2010, she was a councillor for the Torrent area on Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council.
Getting involved in Sinn Féin fitted naturally with her republican politics. Her father was a councillor and she was inspired by his example of “looking after the community around you”.
She enjoys walking and spending time with her two children (Saoirse and Ryan). The united Ireland she wants for them is “one where they’re treated as equals and they feel equal in everything that they do … where we know that the people that are looking after us have got your best interests at heart.”
Asked if equality has replaced unity in Sinn Féin’s thinking, she disagrees. Many inequalities, in her view, still need to be challenged and party policy focuses on meeting social need. The party wants to see a “new Ireland” (united and equal) and is starting a “national conversation” on how to achieve that rather than replicating the deeply unequal South.
