With the first round of negotiations for a free-trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, with Venezuelan sitting out of these discussions) due to start in mid-October, the first since the talks were relaunched in 2010, the statements made by the Uruguayan minister for foreign affairs, Rodolfo Nin Novoa, who said at the weekend that there would be no agreement if beef was not included, caused angry reactions in Ireland.
"So far what we've had with...