The sign on the front door of the EU Commission's offices on the corner of Dawson Street and Kildare Street in Dublin states clearly, "Group Visits Welcome".
However, the Irish Farmers Association "visitors" who walked into the lobby of the building last Wednesday morning, seem to be stretching their welcome to the limit. Yesterday they were still there. They had gone in to protest over changes in the EU's headage scheme which would change future payments to farmers in disadvantaged areas from payments on each head of livestock to a straight acreage payment.
The intention to make this change had been signalled when the agreement on reforming the Common Agricultural Policy, to make it more defensible against attack in the World Trade Talks, was concluded some months ago.
Indeed, it was welcomed by the farm organisations who congratulated the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, on his achievements in the negotiation of Agenda 2000.
The farm organisations also had a guarantee from the Government in the national development programme that there would be no losses to farmers in the changeover from the headage system.
But about two months ago, when the Department of Agriculture put forward its proposals on how the new area-based disadvantaged system should operate in Ireland, it was rejected by the Commission.
Its proposal to pay on a acreage basis will deliver only a maximum of £2,100 in the most severely handicapped areas, £1,750 for hill sheep farmers and £1,500 in less severely handicapped areas.
While 70,000 farmers will actually benefit from the change, the so called "losers" in the scheme will be the most progressive farmers working the most difficult land in the State which has 78 per cent of the landbase classified by the EU as disadvantaged.
According to Mr Pat Holland, one of the protesting farmers who has been occupying the building since Wednesday, the area-based system is a very crude instrument, increasing the income of landowners without stock and punishing those who have animals.
Mr Holland, who farms outside Bantry in Co Cork, on a 180-acre hill farm in an area designated as the most severely handicapped, illustrated how the change would impact on him.
"I have 20 suckler cows and 250 ewes and on the headage system I received £4,200 from the scheme and I needed every penny of it to stay in business.
"Under the proposed system I would only receive £1,750 and that is a big cut in my income. That is why I am here," said Mr Holland.
None of the farmers who have been protesting can understand why the Government is not being allowed to pay them compensation by the EU.
"It is a very serious issue indeed when a sovereign government cannot come directly to the aid of its own people," said Mr Gerry Maguire.
The first offer to compensate the farmers came in Brussels on this day last week from Mr Walsh at a meeting of Farm Ministers. On two occasions he made the offer to Mr Fischler that the Irish taxpayer would be prepared to put an extra £20 million towards the losers in the scheme.
Mr Fischler agreed that some compensation could be paid but on a declining basis, £16 million next year, £12 million in 2002, £8 million the following year and no compensation at all by the year 2004. This was rejected by Mr Walsh and the farmers.
By this stage the farmers had settled into place, working out a rostering arrangement with others prepared to take their places, agreeing on the security of the building and other housekeeping matters. It looked like a long haul.
Following a meeting with the Taoiseach on Thursday, where Mr Ahern promised to pay compensation for six years, there was again a further refusal from the Commission where Mr Fischler was known to be angry at the occupation of the Dublin offices.
The latest attempt at negotiating came late on Friday when the IFA President, Mr Parlon, suggested the best way out of the impasse was for the EU to increase the fund to a position where the so-called "losers", about 20,000 farmers in all, would get the same income from acreage payments as they did under the old system.
Mr Derek Deane, from Hacketstown, Co Carlow, has also spent the last five days in the building. He too is one of the losers because of the changeover.
Mr Deane owns over 100 acres in an area classified as Less Severely Handicapped under the EU scheme and is currently able to draw down a cheque of £4,000 in headage payments on his suckler cows and ewes.
Married with a wife and three young children, he runs a progressive farm and has no other source of income. Under the revised system, his aid would drop to £1,500.
"As a percentage of my overall income that is a big drop and that is why I am here," he said.
Later today, the protesters will be briefed again on how the negotiations are progressing and whether or not they will have to continue their sit-in which is made even more difficult for them because of the good weather.
"Bad enough to lose the headage, but to lose hay-making weather like this is really tough," said one of the group which is being led by the Deputy President of the IFA, Mr John Dillon.