The chair of the board of the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), Pat O’Rourke, along with four board members, have all been given six-month extensions to their appointments by Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill.

It means that the term of office of Pat O’Rourke has been extended from 7 May 2015 to 6 November 2015.

However, it was the position of the four board members that was of much more pressing concern.

All four – Mary McCormack, Kenneth Sharkey, Phelim O’Neill and Ian Mark – were due to finish their latest three-year term as board members on 31 December 2014. That leaves only one remaining board member, Patrick McElroy, who was appointed in February 2014.

The four retiring board members each have served for two three-year terms and normally would step down permanently at this stage, with their positions advertised during the second half of 2014. There were obvious concerns around continuity within the LMC board.

However, a recruitment process has been deferred, mainly as a result of a review into agri-food marketing in NI, led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI). That review was prompted by a recommendation in the report of the Agri-Food Strategy Board, which called for all the various bodies involved in agri-food marketing (including the LMC) to be brought together in one single organisation. A project team was established to consider the issue and was due to make recommendations to DETI Minister Arlene Foster before Christmas.

In the intervening period, the LMC board members have had their appointments extended from 1 January 2015 to 30 June 2015.

Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “I am pleased that, in view of wider strategic developments, the Commissioner for Public Appointments has agreed to a short extension of the appointments of the current board.

“I am also grateful that the current board has agreed to serve for this additional period and want to thank them for this.”