The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA) and the Irish Cattle Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) are also calling on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Martin Heydon to make the decision to remove chair of the Bord Bia board, Larry Murrin from his position.

It follows a meeting of the board today (Thursday, January 22) after concerns were raised when it was confirmed Dawn Farm Foods, of which Murrin is the managing director, sources a small percentage of beef from Brazil.

Following the meeting, Jim O'Toole, chief executive of Bord Bia, confirmed that Larry Murrin remains as the chair of Bord Bia with the majority of the board supporting him, albeit farmer representative members of the board have called for him to resign.

President of ICMSA, Denis Drennan confirmed that he supported a motion of ‘no confidence’ in the chairperson of Bord Bia adding that it is now up to Minister Heydon to "restore farmer confidence in the semi-state" organisation.

Drennan said that the ability of Bord Bia to operate was "wholly dependent on its credibility with farmers and that credibility had been severely damaged by the revelations around imported Brazilian beef2.

He added that it was specifically an issue that Bord Bia needed to address in the context of the sustainability schemes it operated.

“That’s at the heart of farmer anger here and it’s completely justified," Drennan said.

The ICMSA president argues that it is impossible to convince farmers that the degree of traceability and standards that Bord Bia insisted upon in their day-to-day audits of Irish farmers could be "squared" with the import of Brazilian beef.

He said that if a "reasonable and plausible" explanation had been publicly released in the run-up to today’s board meeting, then farmer anger might have been "defused" but that the organisation has been left with no alternative but to request that the minister ensures the chairperson's departure.

Meanwhile, ICSA president Sean McNamara has said it is now "indefensible" for Larry Murrin to remain as chair of Bord Bia: “Let’s be clear. The issue was raised, it was discussed, and nothing was done.

"Larry Murrin remains chair of Bord Bia, despite overseeing a business that sources Brazilian beef. That is not acceptable to Irish farmers and it should not be acceptable to the minister.”

ICSA members gathered outside Bord Bia’s offices in Dublin today to protest Murrin’s continued position as chair.

McNamara continued: “Bord Bia exists to promote Irish food and back Irish farmers. Yet, its chair is linked to Brazilian beef at a time when Mercosur threatens to flood the market with unfair imports.

"That is a clear conflict of interest, and farmers are rightly angry.”

Mr McNamara said the responsibility for resolving this issue now lies squarely with the Minister for Agriculture. “If Bord Bia will not act, then Minister Heydon must.

A similar call has been made by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA).