Offaly MEP criticises 'loud and angry politicians'

Offaly MEP Barry Cowen has hit out at what he described as 'loud politics', particularly in rural areas of the country.

In an op-ed published earlier this week, calling out populist politics in rural Ireland, the Fianna Fáil MEP said that it's not the job of politicians to 'frighten farmers' about the future, and to resist every change in policy.

“I think there is a strain of politics emerging in Ireland, and maybe particularly in rural Ireland, that is addicted to pessimism. Ever change is presented as a threat, every difficulty becomes a crisis, and every compromise is a sell-out, and somehow farmers are being told that the way to secure the future is to resist virtually everything that changes,” he said.

“There will always be more attention available, of course, for announcing that the sky is falling in rather than quietly preventing that from happening, which is the way I do business. Farmers don't need politicians competing to sound the angriest,” he added.

To listen to Barry Cowen MEP's full comments on the subject, see here