Members of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) have vowed to continue protesting outside Bord Bia's headquarters until the chair of the board, Larry Murrin, resigns.

As reported by Agriland earlier this month, Dawn Farm Foods of which Murrin is CEO, confirmed that Brazilian beef accounted for 1% of its beef supply in 2025.

Speaking at the protest today (Monday, January 26), IFA president Francie Gorman said: "We arrived here at 4:00a.m this morning and we plan to stay until this issue is resolved."

Gorman noted that the issue surrounding the chairmanship has yet to be resolved despite being raised by IFA at board level last week.

"Essentially the issue of Larry Murrin's chairmanship of Bord Bia has not been resolved; we asked for a resignation, that did not happen," he explained.

Gorman added that farmers are "really angry" following this controversy, particularly in relation to the additional requirements placed on farmers through Bord Bia's quality assurance (QA) schemes, while lower quality beef imports from countries such as Brazil continue to enter the market.

"Extra asks continually around the QA scheme for farmers and yet they feel they can bring in beef from Brazil and have it stitched into contracts knowing that it's not good enough," the IFA president said.

Declan Hanrahan, chair of IFA's National Livestock Committee, said that Murrin's position as Bord Bia chair is "untenable", especially given Bord Bia's role in promoting Irish beef internationally.

He added: "Being the chair of Bord Bia that's promoting Irish beef all across the world, and at the same time a company that he's linked to is importing Brazilian beef; it's a total hypocrisy that the chair should remain in place."

As a suckler and beef farmer from Co. Laois, Hanrahan highlighted the strict auditing and regulatory standards that Irish farmers must meet to have their beef quality assured.

"Farmers have to adhere to audits every 18 months, and every farmer knows how we have to account for all medicines and antibiotics that's used.

Kevin Sweeney, IFA county chair for Louth, acknowledged that IFA members support Bord Bia's role in selling Irish produce, however they believe farmers' trust has been undermined.

He outlined: "Without the support of farmers, there is no Bord Bia, and it's not that any farmer wants to see Bord Bia finished.

"We need Bord Bia to sell our product and have a standard that is above everybody else's.

Henry Burns, IFA county chair for Laois, also recognised that this saga has angered farmers nationwide, and warned that the government and Bord Bia leadership have misjudged the opinion of farmers on the ground.

"Farmers across the country are very angry at what they see as a situation of double standards.

"They're way out of step with farmers; I think they have misjudged the mood on the ground and they need to go back and reassess that," Burns noted.

The protest is set to continue despite expressions of confidence in Murrin as chair from the Taoiseach, the minister of agriculture and the majority of Bord Bia representatives, a position which the IFA says does not reflect the views of farmers.