The UFU responds to a letter from last week written by Oisin Murnion which expressed concern at a recent court case involving former president Ian Marshall.
DEAR SIR: I refer to your letter, published on Thursday 3 August 2017 entitled Concern at UFU court case. The Ulster Farmers’ Union made clear from when this particular case began that the judicial review (JR), involving its former president, Ian Marshall, was taken as it offered the best chance of success.
We had wanted for some time to challenge a finding of intent arising from a pollution incident. The case was not taken because it involved a UFU president.
We had previously looked at similar cases with other members, but had decided they were not sufficiently strong to challenge through a JR and indeed our action was clearly justified when the court ruled in favour of the UFU’s position.
ADVERTISEMENT
We knew from the start that a JR would be a time-consuming and costly process and therefore was not entered into lightly. We have mounted similar challenges on other issues in the past to secure a precedent that would apply to all members, and would do so again.
We have already provided significant assistance to Mr Murnion on a case relating to young farmers and would underline to all UFU members that whether or not a case ends up in court, every UFU member has our support and assistance if we feel they are being treated unfairly.
Register for free to read this story and our free stories.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe to get unlimited access.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to the site until next Wednesday at 9pm.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact support.
DEAR SIR: I refer to your letter, published on Thursday 3 August 2017 entitled Concern at UFU court case. The Ulster Farmers’ Union made clear from when this particular case began that the judicial review (JR), involving its former president, Ian Marshall, was taken as it offered the best chance of success.
We had wanted for some time to challenge a finding of intent arising from a pollution incident. The case was not taken because it involved a UFU president.
We had previously looked at similar cases with other members, but had decided they were not sufficiently strong to challenge through a JR and indeed our action was clearly justified when the court ruled in favour of the UFU’s position.
We knew from the start that a JR would be a time-consuming and costly process and therefore was not entered into lightly. We have mounted similar challenges on other issues in the past to secure a precedent that would apply to all members, and would do so again.
We have already provided significant assistance to Mr Murnion on a case relating to young farmers and would underline to all UFU members that whether or not a case ends up in court, every UFU member has our support and assistance if we feel they are being treated unfairly.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525.
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address. Please click on the link in this email to reset your password. If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder. If you can't find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
ENTER YOUR LOYALTY CODE:
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
SHARING OPTIONS