C & J Meats has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that it is now the owner of the factory formerly operated by Edenmore Farm Meats Ltd in Lifford, Co Donegal, which resumed taking in cattle last week.

Company records show that Edenmore was dissolved in January, while C & J established a subsidiary in the Republic last August. Edenmore collapsed after farmers picketed the factory in 2016, some of them claiming they had not been paid for cattle in two years.

Former staff are understood to have been retained, including Liam McGavigan, one of Edenmore's previous owners.

Move into slaughtering

C&J Meats is a beef processing company which has been buying and cutting carcases in Northern Ireland for around 20 years, including imports from the Republic.

The Lifford venture is C & J's first foray into the slaughtering side of the industry. The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the company is also involved in the purchase of the former Langford Processors facility in Crumlin, Co Antrim. The abattoir was previously used to dispose of animals over 30 months of age under BSE rules and there are plans to start slaughtering cattle there this year.

Additional reporting by Phelim O'Neill and David Wright.

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Protesting farmers waiting up to two years to be paid for cattle