Tens of thousands of Irish farmers showed their strong opposition to the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement at a major protest in Athlone, Co. Westmeath but the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is still preparing to travel to South America on Saturday (January 17) to sign the trade deal.

Once the deal is officially signed what could this really mean for Ireland?

In this episode of AgriFocus Francess McDonnell is joined by Thijs Geijer, a senior sector economist at the Dutch banking group ING who specialises in the food and agriculture sector.

According to Geijer the European Commission is trying to sweeten the Mercosur trade deal for farmers and member states by "redirecting €45 billion euro from the next EU budget towards agriculture" and also by building additional "safeguards" into the deal.

But could Mercosur be a growth game changer for Ireland?

Geijer said there could potentially be some opportunities for Ireland's dairy sector but he believes the "economic value" of the deal is primarily biased towards the EU's manufacturing sector.

Geijer added: "The EU is a large exporter of dairy products but currently we see European exporters are facing difficulties at least in two major markets, in the US - because of import tariffs - but also in China, with China imposing retaliatory tariffs on some European dairy exports. There is also limited demand growth in the EU itself, in the domestic market.

"Mercosur is currently a very small market for EU exporters because Brazil, which is the key country in the Mercosur block, mainly relies on Argentina and other Mercosur countries so the introduction of quota for dairy products could provide the basis for future growth.

"But still the practical question is whether this will create any direct opportunities for the Irish dairy industry."

Go beyond the headlines with our podcast series – AgriFocus – where we take a closer look at some of the key issues that directly impact on farmers, rural communities and the agri-sector.