The five Irish Farmers Association (IFA) members who have occupied the lobby of Bord Bia for the past 28 days as part of the farm body’s campaign to remove Larry Murrin as chair of the State body have left the building.

Teresa Roche, Christine Friel, Richard Moeran, Patrick McCormick and Tom Byrne exited the building on Pembroke Road at around 6pm on Monday 2 March to rapturous applause from the IFA members present.

They left the building after the board of Bord Bia and the IFA agreed to a governance review, which was suggested by Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon last week, which will take place over the coming weeks. It is expected to be completed by 30 April.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal this Monday evening, IFA president Francie Gorman credited the board in finding a resolution to the matter.

Timing

He said the review will hopefully be completed by the end of April. Gorman said that it was hard to believe it that it has taken this long to sort it out.

“I think that huge credit goes to the five people here beside me and not forgetting Adrian Gallagher,” he said, who was also inside the lobby for a number of days at the start of the sit-in.

The protesters spent 28 days occupying the lobby of Bord Bia. \ Philip Doyle

The IFA president said that the farm body believed it “had an issue that needed to be sorted”.

He said little did he think that over a month ago that the IFA would have gotten the level of support that it had received over the last five or six weeks.

“All I'll say is, it's a pity it took five weeks. This could have been sorted. This could have been sorted in five or 10 minutes. It didn't need five weeks,” he said.

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