There was no unanimous agreement to move forward in the Bord Bia dispute by the leaders of the main farming organisations at a meeting organised today (Friday, February 13) by Minister Martin Heydon.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine had billed it as an "important meeting of key agri-food stakeholders".

He said they would meet to discuss the "pressing issues facing farmers and the wider sector" and they did discuss the recent bluetongue outbreak, TB, milk prices and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

However the ongoing dispute which has played out over the last couple of weeks involving the chair of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin, was also high on the agenda today.

The chair of the Irish Food Board is also the CEO of Dawn Farm Foods.

According to Dawn Farm Foods, Brazilian beef accounted for 1% of its beef supply in 2025.

The country's largest farm organisations, as well as the Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, have said they believe Larry Murrin's role as chair of Bord Bia is "incompatible" with his role with Dawn Farm Foods.

Murrin told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food  last week that he was "completely reconciled that there is no conflict, incompatibility whatsoever".

The Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine have backed Murrin to remain as the chair of Bord Bia.

Meeting

At the meeting today between farming organisations and Minister Martin Heydon a document was circulated which detailed that Bord Bia would "commit" to a number of actions.

These included proposals to "revisit the focus on farmer experience with audits", to establish a farmer forum on quality assurance schemes to "improve farmer engagement" and a new information campaign aimed at "informing" the general public about Origin Green.

The document also set out that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would "undertake an imitative to enhance understanding of global supply chains for Irish and food and drink"

It also committed to an initiative on labelling and food information for consumers.

It is understood that none of the representatives from the key farming organisations who attended the meeting agreed to the proposals set out in the document.

Minister Heydon

Speaking after the meeting with key agri-stakeholders - which included farmers and industry representatives - Minister Heydon said there had been "a detailed and thorough discussion in relation to several specific issues related to Bord Bia which have been raised in recent weeks".

"All participants had the chance to express their views and were heard. I am pleased that stakeholders engaged constructively," Minister Heydon added.

Bord Bia

He said that he had "identified from contributions today that there needs to be a renewed focus on farmer experience of the audit and Bord Bia engagement with farmers.” 

He said that all the farm organisations who attended the meeting today have been asked to provide feedback on the Bord Bia proposals that were put to them at the meeting.

According to the minister, the meeting also gave agri-food stakeholders an opportunity to discuss "CAP post-2027, EU Budget negotiations, water quality and the nitrates derogation, animal disease issues, supports for generational renewal, and the steps all stakeholders need to take collectively to improve health and safety on-farm". 

Minister Heydon said: “The real success of the agri-food sector lies in our ability to work together; we have seen this through our successive strategies for the sector and the collaborative way in which we have responded to significant challenges over the last decade, including Brexit and the Covid-19 crisis.”

Macra

One of the organisations who took part in the meeting today, Macra, said it had welcomed the opportunity to discuss "key issues with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

"Macra looks forward to continued engagement to ensure that the important issues highlighted in recent weeks are addressed. The organisation also welcomed the opportunity to highlight key issues that are facing young farmers both currently and in the development of the new CAP proposals," it added.

ICMSA

Meanwhile the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA), who also attended today's meeting, said it will "take the minister’s proposals away for study and revert in due course".

The president of the ICMSA, Denis Drennan said that he did not "think the proposals went far enough" but said the current situation requires "full focus" and ICMSA is happy to give it that.

“We’ll give the proposals the necessary study and then revert with our own detailed proposals to address the current impasse” he added.

Update

In a subsequent update after this article was initially published, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) - which also attended the meeting called by Minister Heydon - said there was a "massive disconnect between farmers and the corporate leadership in Bord Bia".

IFA president Francie Gorman said the minister had "refused" to make any proposal to resolve the substantive issue around the loss of farmer confidence in the chair of Bord Bia at the meeting.

“The QA schemes are a partnership between farmers, processors, customer-facing businesses and Bord Bia. That partnership is being shattered,” he said.

The IFA president said that the organisation "remains willing to engage with the minister, Bord Bia or other parties to try and resolve this dispute".