Bord Bia confirms board meeting to be held tomorrow
The board of Bord Bia is due to gather for a meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, February 18) as the controversy around Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin continues.
There has been calls for Murrin to resign or be removed after it was confirmed Dawn Farm Foods, of which Murrin is CEO, sourced 1% of its beef supply in 2025 from Brazil.
This has led some farm organisations and politicians to question Murrin's position as chair of Bord Bia - which is tasked with promoting Irish agri-food.
Larry Murrin has strongly rejected claims that his role as chair of Bord Bia is "incompatible" with leading a multi-national company.
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) is continuing a rolling protest at Bord Bia headquarters, which began on January 26.
Five members of the farm organisation have also been inside the building in the reception area for over two weeks now.
IFA president Francie Gorman has said the protest will continue until Larry Murrin resigns or is removed as Bord Bia chair.
Meeting
In a statement to Agriland, a spokesperson for Bord Bia said: "A board meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 18".
"This is a regular meeting of the board and the agenda will comprise a number of items of business, as per usual.
"All board members, including the chair, have been invited to attend.
"Given that Bord Bia’s Dublin office remains illegally occupied and normal operations are significantly disrupted, the location has not yet been confirmed," they added.
A spokesperson for the IFA has told Agriland that they will attend the board meeting.
Protest
When asked by Agriland if Bord Bia has applied for a high court injunction to have the IFA removed from its building, a spokesperson for the Irish Food Board said:
"Bord Bia values its relationship with farmers and their representative organisations, and in recognition of this has decided not to take legal action against the protestors occupying the Dublin office.
"However, the ongoing sit-in continues to cause significant disruption.
"Over 140 Dublin-based staff have been unable to access their workplace for almost three weeks; Transition Year placements for 20 students had to be cancelled at short notice; and commercial visits, customer meetings and long-planned events have had to be paused.
"This disruption will continue while the office is occupied," they added.
Bord Bia
Aside from Larry Murrin, there are 14 other members on the Bord Bia board, including the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA).
During the last board meeting, held on January 22, IFA president Francie Gorman sought the resignation of the chair of Bord Bia.
Following the meeting, Jim O'Toole, chief executive of Bord Bia, confirmed in a statement that "the board of Bord Bia reached an outcome to support Larry Murrin as chairman of Bord Bia".
"This was not unanimous, with the farmer organisations represented on the board, IFA and ICMSA, not supporting the chairman," he noted.
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon have backed Murrin to remain as the chair of Bord Bia.
A meeting between Minister Heydon and "key agri-stakeholders" on Friday (February 13) ended without unanimous agreement to move forward in the dispute.
