TD: Farming 'cannot afford' Bord Bia chair issue 'distraction'
A TD has said that Irish agriculture 'cannot afford' the 'distraction' over the issue of the chairperson of Bord Bia and his business' sourcing of beef from Brazil.
Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin is also the CEO of Dawn Farm Foods, which stated earlier this month that it sources around 1% of its beef supply from Brazil.
At the moment, it is understood that none of the beef from Brazil was sold in Ireland.
However, the issue has nonetheless sparked a lot of anger from farm organisations and some politicians, who claim that Murrin's business sourcing beef from Brazil clashes with his role of chair of the body tasked with with promoting Irish food.
Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan said today (Monday, January 26) that she has been contacted by several members of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) in Offaly on the issue.
She claimed that these IFA members "are at a loss to understand how Bord Bia is failing to grasp the untenable nature of [its] chairman Larry Murrin's position".
"The issue here is not the volume of beef. The issue is the blatant contradiction in terms of food standard promotion and the institutional attitude of Bord Bia, which amounts to telling farmers and Irish producers 'do as we say, not as we do'," the TD added.
"Irish agriculture cannot afford this kind of distraction at this time.
"Farmers, government and all the agri-food agencies need to be pulling in the one direction," Nolan said.
According to the independent TD, a "protracted and contentious standoff, particularly where clear reputational damage is likely, cannot be allowed to develop".
"The anger is rising among farmers and with understandable reason.
"Government and indeed Bord Bia would do well to heed the lessons that farmers have imposed on the EU recently with respect to Mercosur. They were not for turning then and they not for turning now," she added.
Bord Bia protest
Nolan was speaking as the IFA began 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, Larry Murrin, 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.
