Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has expressed "full support" for Larry Murrin in his role as chairperson of the board of Bord Bia.

Murrin and Bord Bia have been embroiled in controversy in recent week after it was learned that Murrin's company, Dawn Farm Foods, sources some of its beef from Brazil.

Farm organisations and some politicians believe that this fact clashes with Murrin's role as chair of the state body tasked with promoting Irish food.

This has led to protests from farm organisations, with members of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) understood to be still encamped inside Bord Bia head offices in Dublin as of this morning (Wednesday, February 4).

However, most of the Bord Bia board (the exceptions being the farm organisation representatives from the IFA and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association), as well as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon, have been steadfast in their support for Murrin.

Now, the board of MII have also leant their support to the embattled Bord Bia chair, with a statement from the Ibec body (which represents primary meat processors) saying that "a clear focus" on the requirements of Irish meat customers is "essential to ongoing success" of Irish meat exports.

MII said: "As an industry dedicated to exporting Irish meat products globally, MII operates within a supply chain that upholds strict standards and specifications.

"This approach enables the supply of diverse products across multiple categories and demands both scale and agility to meet customer needs, including the ability to respond to unexpected surges in demand," MII added.

"Our efforts ensure that Irish meat features on the retail shelves of blue-chip customers, consistently returning the best value to our farmer producers. However, it is important to note that these customers also set their own trade conditions, sometimes necessitating internationally sourced inputs," the MII statement said.

According to MII, these inputs are sometimes required to satisfy the specific demands of international markets.

"Similarly, Irish farmers depend on the importation of fertilisers and feed to maintain high standards in livestock production for both the meat and dairy sectors," MII noted.

"The impact of this is evident in Bord Bia’s published end-of-year results for 2025, which show that meat and livestock exports increased by 18% - an uplift of approximately €670 million - reaching €5 billion, despite a reduction in throughput during the year," the Ibec body said.

"Maintaining a clear focus on customer requirements is essential to ongoing success - this principle is not new and applies across all business relationships and industrial sectors," it added.

"However, we wish to emphasise the importance of maintaining focus on issues that benefit the Irish meat industry, bringing benefits to farmer suppliers, rural communities, and the industry at large," the MII statement concluded.