Dawn Meats has criticised what it has called a “sinister development” at its facility in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.
According to the factory, the incident involved “the illegal blockade preventing sheep farmers from selling their lambs”.
It said that sheep farmers trying to deliver factory ready lambs were “subjected to intimidation and abuse”.
Injunction
Dawn welcomed the High Court judgement today that named farmer protesters consented to permanent injunctions preventing illegal blockading and intimidation across all plants.
“The permanent injunction extends to all unnamed persons engaging in the illegal blockades and intimidation at all Dawn Meats facilities,” the processor said.
The processor said that none of the named farmers were Dawn suppliers, which confirmed its belief that a small number of farmers were behind the protests and upsetting factory supply for the majority of farmers.
We are always ready to meet with our farmer suppliers
The processor said it would have preferred to avoid taking legal action against protesters, but was forced to in light of the illegal activity.
“We are always ready to meet with our farmer suppliers, but those involved in the illegal blockades are not direct suppliers of cattle to our facilities,” Dawn said.
“This reinforces our concern that a small minority are denying the genuine cattle farmers with whom we have longstanding relationships, from being able to sell their factory ready cattle."
Dawn added that it was open to further discussions through Meat Industry Ireland, but only when blockades were halted.
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