The Beef Plan Movement held a protest outside a TB stakeholder forum meeting that was held at the Department of Agriculture’s Backweston Campus on Wednesday.

Stakeholders met with the Department as part of ongoing consultations around plans to eradicate TB by 2030. However, Beef Plan Movement representatives were protesting outside the gates from 1.30pm.

A spokesperson for the Beef Plan Movement told the Irish Farmers Journal that following a meeting with Department officials last week, the group had hoped to have representatives in the meeting.

Denied

However, in an email received on Tuesday evening, its request to attend the meeting was denied by the Department. Instead, the Beef Plan Movement’s addition to the forum will be discussed by existing representatives at the meeting.

Beef Plan Movement chair Eamonn Corley said the decision was a slap in the face to the group, which he claims now represents 17,000 beef farmers. He said the group was entitled to be there given the backing it had received from farmers.

Corley said the Department should be “big enough to decide itself” and it should not be up to the other parties involved.

Policy

He said that at last week’s meeting with officials, the Beef Plan Movement had outlined its policy on the direction TB eradication should take based on 10 points from the group’s original 86-point plan.

Corley added the Beef Plan was “completely against” two new proposals being considered. These are the inclusion of a farmers TB history on mart boards and a 30-day pre-movement TB test.

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