Meat Industry Ireland has said at least nine meat plants were not operating on Tuesday morning “as livestock coming in have been blocked by the Beef Plan protesters, which is against their own guidelines”.

“The level of national cattle kill this week will depend on the extent of the Beef Plan blockading,” a spokesperson has said.

“Plants are making every effort to operate as farmers want livestock (both cattle and sheep) processed,” he said.

Minimal levels

“Many other plants are only operating at minimal levels,” he added.

“Given that the national kill was probably down 5,000 or 6,000 head last week, and given the disruption today, significantly more animals could be left unprocessed this week.”

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