A unanimous decision was made by the Irish Farmers' Association's (IFA) vegetable growers to provide the organisation’s president Tim Cullinan with a mandate to take “whatever action is necessary” - including protest action - to secure higher prices for their produce.

Cullinan told the Irish Farmers Journal that it was unknown what action may be required other than delegations from the IFA meeting with retailers, although he has said “obviously, we will look at every option”.

The growers’ decision came following a meeting of fruit and vegetable farmers in Naas on Wednesday night, with the group stating that retailers have failed to increase food prices in-line with input cost rises seen on farms.

It is understood that the vote on granting Cullinan the mandate came as vegetable growers expressed an unwillingness to visibly break ranks in front of their supermarkets and suppliers.

Some farmers told the Irish Farmers Journal that they would not comment publicly on retailer prices, as they feared having contracts cancelled for doing so.

Frustration

“I came down here this evening and you could see yourself the frustration with the growers here in the room about the price they are receiving for their produce,” Cullinan told the Irish Farmers Journal after the meeting.

“And there was a unanimous decision here in the room this evening to give a mandate to myself that if they cannot negotiate a proper price increase from retail, well, then the mandate has been given to me to take whatever action is required to drive this campaign forward,” he said.

The IFA president went on to state that the IFA’s position towards retailers would be reassessed in coming weeks.

“We will re-evaluate in the weeks ahead and, you know, decide in the weeks ahead what actions we want to take,” he explained.

‘Enough is enough’

Cullinan said the establishment of a food ombudsman would be welcomed by the IFA but added that more must be done.

“We need our Government to relook at the legislation surrounding this. Enough is enough – we cannot continue having retailers driving down the price when input costs have gone up.

“Our campaign will be continuing until we get our price up at retail level,” he said.