Talks in Geneva on a global trade deal are facing a crisis after three days with little progress.
Ministers were beginning another emergency meeting with India saying it had nothing new to offer.
Rich and poor nations remain at loggerheads as to who must make the next move.
Officials said it would be clear later whether it was worth pursuing the long-delayed World Trade Organisation talks.
The US and the EU say it is up to big emerging countries like India, China and Brazil to respond to their offers on opening up their agriculture markets.
But the emerging countries say Washington and Brussels are still not doing enough to help poor farmers in the Doha round of free trade talks which are supposed to promote development.
Ministers 'defending Irish interests'
Government Ministers say they have been engaged in robust negotiations to defend Irish interests in talks in the world trade negotiations in Geneva.
The talks have been under way since Monday but have ended for the evening and are due to resume at 12pm tomorrow afternoon.
There were reports this afternoon that the negotiations were going through a difficult phase.
Tánaiste Mary Coughlan is leading a team of four Irish ministers, which comprises Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith, Minister for Trade and Commerce John McGuinness and Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power.
The ministers say that their meetings provided opportunities to consistently highlight Ireland's 'very real concerns on agriculture' while working for 'positive outcomes on manufacturing industry and services'.
Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith said that his objective was to ensure the best possible tariff protection for key Irish beef, dairy and sheep meat.
The Tánaiste said: 'Progress on talks about trade in manufactured goods (NAMA) is proving to be difficult but what is good in NAMA is good for Irish industrial employment.'
She said lower tariff costs could inject real gains into the Irish economy and address the issue of inflationary pressures.
Minister McGuinness said that a good deal will also provide additional impetus to the Government's policies to enhance competitiveness and develop business in a range of growing markets.
The ministers highlighted the need for a positive result in the area of internationally traded services, particularly financial, computer and other business services. Ireland is the 11th highest exporter of services in the world.
Minister Power said increased trade and improved market access can provide a real opportunity for least developed countries to climb out of poverty and Ireland supports a truly development dimension to the round.
IFA welcomes Sarkozy's refusal to sign deal
The IFA said tonight the negotiations are heading for breakdown.
Four Government ministers from Ireland have been attending those talks.
But IFA president Padraig Walshe said he believes there is no basis for an agreement.
Mr Walshe returned from Geneva this evening for a specially-convened meeting of the IFA Executive Council to brief members on the latest developments.
He accused EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson of recklessly undermining European agriculture and the food industry in the negotiations.
The IFA earlier welcomed a statement by the French President Nicholas Sarkozy that he would not sign a new world trade agreement in its current form.
This afternoon, the IFA President Padraig Walshe said he was delighted that President Sarkozy was now delivering on the sentiments expressed in Dublin on Monday.
Mr Walshe said France and Ireland have always stood together in support of Europe's unique family farm structure.
Mr Walshe believes the proposed deal could lead to the destruction of Irish agriculture and 100,000 job losses in rural Ireland.
Mr Walshe also welcomed Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel's cast-iron commitment about the future of the annual EU payment to individual farmers.
He said the Commissioner's statement put an end to the nonsense of the Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith, who had been alleging that he was saving the Single Farm Payment in the Geneva negotiations.
The IFA leader said the real challenge now for Minister Smith was the tariff concessions being offered by Mr Mandelson that would hurt the Irish beef industry.
