Minister asked to call meeting of Bord Bia and farm organisations
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has been called on to arrange a meeting between Bord Bia and farm organisations over the Larry Murrin controversy.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) has called for all parties concerned to "take a breath" with a view to resolving the issue.
Farm organisations and some politicians have expressed anger over Bord Bia chairperson Larry Murrin, who is also the CEO of Dawn Farm Foods, which sources around 1% of its beef supply from Brazil.
It is understood that none of the beef from Brazil was sold in Ireland.
ICMSA president Denis Drennan said today (Monday, January 26): "There will be a solution to this, and we’d prefer to start looking for it."
The farm leader said that the detection of a case of bluetongue in Ireland adds pressure to resolve the Bord Bia controversy.
"ICMSA is calling on Minister Heydon to arrange a meeting between the farm organisations and Bord Bia as soon as possible and work through the issues towards restoring farmer confidence in Bord Bia," Drennan said.
"We know that there are systemic defects in labelling and consumer information at point-of-sales that this incident has very clearly highlighted," he added.
"ICMSA always focusses on what we identify as the best interests of farmers, and we need more information to do that."
Drennan said the minister should call a meeting today, in light of the bluetongue outbreak.
"If we ever had the luxury of weeks and months to allow this to work itself out, then we certainly don’t have it after last weekend and the bluetongue outbreak," Drennan said.
"Let’s meet and start talking ‘to’ each other as opposed to ‘at’ each other...There will be a solution to this, and we’d prefer to start looking for it”, the ICMSA president added.
Bord Bia protest
In the latest developments in the ongoing controversy, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has begun what it calls a rolling protest today outside the main offices of Bord Bia in Dublin.
The farm organisation said the position of the Bord Bia chair is "untenable", adding that "farmer confidence will only be restored with his removal".
IFA president Francie Gorman told Agriland that the protest, which began at 4:00a.m this morning, will continue until Larry Murrin is no longer chair of Bord Bia.
