At the large farmer protest on Monday at Stormont there were various calls for Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir to resign, while a petition, which also calls for his permanent secretary Katrina Godfrey to leave office, has gained some momentum online.

All that has come on the back of anger at how DAERA managed a cull of 51 cattle outside Fivemiletown.

Briefing the Stormont Agriculture committee on Monday Minister Muir denied any suggestion he had sanctioned the cull. Instead, he had received a briefing note on the morning of the event to say it was happening.

He also correctly pointed out that it would be inappropriate for a minister to interfere in these matters – the department was acting on the will of a court and how the issue was dealt with was for professional veterinary staff in DAERA to decide.

Ultimately those vets are bound by an oath which requires them to ensure the health and welfare of animals in their care – it is fair that decisions are challenged, but within the department, a lay person won’t overrule veterinary judgement on these issues.

Scrutiny

That said, there is no doubt that the farmer anger at the cull has brought further scrutiny onto the work of Minister Muir and his department. There is also no doubt that the Alliance Party and the farming industry have not been the easiest of bedfellows over the period, with the party largely urban based. However, with just seven months of the current Stormont mandate remaining, it is pretty pointless to call for Minister Muir to go, when he would be simply replaced by another Alliance colleague.

Where change can happen is at the next Stormont election, due to take place by May 2027.

Following the last election, the largest political parties did as they usually do and left the DAERA portfolio to the last pick, so it ended up in the hands of the Alliance Party. In recent history, only once has DAERA been picked ahead of another government department. But given how badly Minister Muir has performed in the eyes of his rivals, it will be interesting to see which other parties actively grasp DAERA with both hands after the next election. Their actions will speak louder than their words.