A major demonstration at Stormont this Friday (4 September) is being organised by the UFU over a lack of profitability in the supply chain.

Friday’s protest in Belfast is being organised ahead of the extraordinary meeting of the European Agricultural Council in Brussels on Monday (7 September). The UFU will also be present at a major protest by farmers from across Europe which will coincide with Monday’s meeting.

UFU president Ian Marshall said: “People in Northern Ireland understand the importance of a vibrant food industry to the local economy; our aim is to make sure this message is heard in Brussels.”

Today’s announcement follows comments made by Marshall at a dairy summit in Greenmount last Thursday that the union would not be protesting over the current situation but instead continue to engage in negotiations and discussions.

Marshall said: “We do not want to be in a situation where the farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, sees protests in Dublin, Paris or anywhere else but not in Belfast – and uses that as a reason to conveniently ignore us.”

Protests have been ongoing across Europe for several weeks over the issues facing the agriculture industry. The most recent has been in Dublin today, with over 1,000 farmers protesting outside the European Commission’s office in a demonstration organised by the Irish Farmers Association. Recently, groups of farmers have been protesting locally outside supermarkets in Northern Ireland and Farmers For Action has staged demonstrations across the UK also.

Stormont has been selected as the location for the protest in order to gain political support and also to cause little disturbance to the general public.

The wider agri-food industry is being asked to attend Friday’s demonstration at 1pm to highlight how the current situation in the industry affects the entire economy and not just farmers.

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