Cork's John Mullins aiming to bring his vast knowledge and expertise to MEP role

CORK northsider and international renewable energy entrepreneur John Mullins has told The Echo that he will take on and debate both far-right and far-left opponents in the coming campaign for June’s European Parliament elections and declared he wasn’t afraid to speak out on one of the most contentious issues in Irish politics today, immigration.

“This economy would not function but for the fact that we have migration and the reality is that you can’t be selective about this, if people are being persecuted in a country but if they’re here on economic migration and they come from a safe country, regrettably they have to go home,” he said.

“If you want to work in this country, you can apply for 40,000 visas that are being offered now to non-EU citizens to come to this country on an annual basis.”

The Knocknaheeny man, who gained a masters degree in electrical engineering from UCC was confirmed as a Fine Gael candidate alongside incumbent Seán Kelly, last week in Clonmel, a meeting which was presided over by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and attended by TDs, senators, councillors and other Fine Gael party faithful of 10 counties from Wicklow to Clare.

His pitch to get elected is straight forward. It’s his business experience, in Ireland and in Europe and further afield. “I believe I will be bringing a different profile to European politics, one which is based on the best part of 30 years in business and civic life and I still have plenty of energy to give.

“My intention is to be a fresh new voice for Ireland, and Ireland South, but more importantly to bring the skills I’ve built up by working in Europe over the past 25 years, in countries in Eastern, Central and Western Europe.

“I know Europe very well, I’ve done business there and I know how to negotiate and I want to bring that capability to the fore on behalf of Ireland.”

FARMING

On questions closer to home, the Amarenco chief is hoping his negotiating skills will help him should he be elected and described the negotiations which led Irish farmers getting a derogation on the Nitrates directive which allows them to spread 220 kg of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare. “Instead of going to 170kg, which would have been an absolute disaster for farmers, we went to 220kg — that was negotiated as a derogation by the Irish Government.

“I absolutely do understand the stacking effect of all of these issues on farmers is a real concern and that’s why I will be looking for a new form of rural contract during my campaign which will keep farmers on the land and that will actually bring people back into rural Ireland, working in rural Ireland, and that will be assisted by the National Broadband Plan.

“I certainly want an easing of congestion in urban areas and that people are given a choice to resettle in rural Ireland — I think that’s very important, that communities grow, that GAA clubs have more boys and girls in the future, we need to make sure that we try to decentralize more on this island.” He pointed also to the mitigation which was negotiated to the EU Nature Restoration Act which was passed recently in the Parliament thanks, in part, to the last-minute decision by FG MEPs to vote for it though their EU party voted against. “The mitigation they got was that a farmer enters this only on a voluntary basis and the onus on the Irish Government is to fulfill that 20% requirement that is needed between now and 2030 on nature restoration law and that means, essentially, State lands coming to the fore rather than private farming land.

“It would certainly be my intention as an MEP to ensure that the Government steps up to the plate so that we won’t see voluntary become compulsory for farmers.

“Farmers’ incomes are volatile at best we need to make sure that we have a carrot for farmers to continue farming and protecting our environment, which they have done for generations, rather than actually trying to beat them with progressive sticks.

“Clearly, from my background, I believe in pragmatic environmentalism but not ideological environmentalism.” He’s looking forward to the coming campaign which he acknowledges will be challenging but he’s also looking forward to the debate and, in particular, taking the argument to extremists on both sides on the hustings.

“I’m going to be extremely strong with attitudes on the far-right in Europe and the far-left”.

CONFLICTS

He said that people want to see the Ukrainians able to return home but the obstacle was the invasion of that country by Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

“How will they go home, if four MEPs, one from Ireland South, Mick Wallace, votes against €50 billion of an aid package so that Ukrainian people can help themselves to self-determination and to take on Putin and his cronies.”

Regarding the latest escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on a rock concert on the Israeli border on October 7, killing more than 1200 people and taking hundreds more hostage, he condemned the attack as an “act of absolute terrorism” and said Hamas was a ‘terrorist organisation that does the most horrible of things’.

He said that he had been working in the Israel/Palestine region over the last five or six years and had an insight into what was happening there. “We need to keep on steadfastly supporting the two-state solution for Palestine,” he added.

The stance of the EU Commission President, Ursula Von der Leyen, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attack was to express strong unequiovcal support for Israel and this led many to question whether she should be re-appointed when her term comes to an end later this year due to the increasing death toll among Palestinian civilians due to the Israeli onslaught.

If elected as MEP, the Cork man said he would support the re-appointment of Von der Leyen and pointed out that there are many different viewpoints on the question of support for Israel across the EU and these differing perspectives should be respected. “Since that, maybe, error of judgement in the initial number of days, I think she has dealt with the matter on a consensual basis across Europe.

“People make mistakes and, in general, she has done a very good job for Europe.”