Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon, and Bord Bia, to give "proper consideration" to the association's proposal to resolve issues surrounding the Bord Bia board.

As Agriland reported yesterday (Saturday, February 21), the IFA has proposed a "framework" to resolve the dispute with Bord Bia over its chairperson Larry Murrin.

The IFA has called on Murrin to resign or be removed over his company's sourcing of beef from Brazil.

The IFA has maintained a protest outside Bord Bia's head offices in Dublin, while five members of the farm organisation have been inside the building for around three weeks in a sit-in protest.

The IFA has now proposed that a review should take place addressing a range of issues it has raised concerning Bord Bia. The association said that Murrin should step aside for at least the duration of that review.

Gorman said that Bord Bia "must consider" the proposal, which would suspend the ongoing protest if the chair ‘stepped aside’ to allow for a comprehensive review of Bord Bia.

Gorman said that the IFA is yet to receive "any substantive reply" from Bord Bia on the proposal.

"I requested that the board should meet without the chair, which is consistent with the Code of Practice for the governance of state bodies. This has not happened to date," he said.

The IFA president claimed: "The reality is that all the talk from the minister and all the advertisements from the Bord Bia management about wanting dialogue is only empty rhetoric.

"We made a similar suggestion at the Joint Oireachtas Committee 11 days ago and at the talks with DAFM last Friday week. I referenced this again at our meeting in Claremorris on Thursday night, yet it was not entertained by the minister," Gorman added.

He said: "The minister and Larry Murrin have not moved one inch since it emerged that the chair is importing Brazilian beef and Brazilian poultry and that his company is not part of any Bord Bia QA scheme.

"There was a meeting of the board last Wednesday and we responded with this proposal to try and achieve a breakthrough. The board of Bord Bia must be given an opportunity to consider it without the chair being present," he added.