Mr. Nicholson, one of the panel of four agricultural industry experts attending a meeting in Enniskillen last week, said, “Everyone holds up rural development as the great pillar of support to the rural economy but if farmers are to be penalised and have to pay for it, then it will not work. Rural development; fine, excellent. But it is no substitute for agriculture nor can it replace our dependence on our traditional family farm structure in Northern Ireland.

    “There is no doubt that the road ahead will be tough and difficult, but we should not be too pessimistic. While we must prepare for the worse, we can, I hope, achieve something better,” he stated.

    Mr. Nicholson was joined on the panel by three other Fermanagh men, all with prominent positions within the agricultural industry. They included Mr. Harold Hamilton, Chairman of United Dairy Farmers; Mr. Douglas Rowe, President of the Ulster Farmers’ Union and Mr. David Rutledge, chief executive of the Livestock and Meat Commission. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Richard Wright, agricultural correspondent with the BBC.

    The meeting was organised by Mr. Jim Nicholson and Fermanagh Unionist Association and sponsored by the European Information Fund of the European Parliament.

    Mr. Nicholson also referred to the predicted large-scale changes in the Common Agricultural Policy at the forthcoming Mid-Term Review.

    He said the mid-term review proposals due to be announced by the European Commission on June 18, would be wide-ranging and possibly a forerunner to more cuts during 2006 when the new reform process begins.

    Added to this would be the entry of up to six new EU member countries and he warned farmers attending the meeting that while the present system might be bad, it was the best it got looking ahead to what was on the agenda.

    “When you continue to enlarge and expand, the support will continue to disappear and evaporate. I personally do not look forward to what the expanded EU will deliver for Northern Ireland farmers,” he said.