Dutch political phenomenon Caroline van der Plas will be the star attraction at a meeting for a new Irish farmer movement next Sunday.

The Farmers Alliance will welcome the BBB (Farmer/Citizen Movement) leader as they take the first steps to establishing a new farmer political platform. The alliance first met last month in what was described by George O’Malley, one of the founders, as “a scoping exercise, to take the pulse of the gathering”.

“It was unanimous it was now or never, a last chance saloon to do something really different,” he said. “The primary producer needs to get hold of two parts of the production system, inputs and the marketplace, or it’s over,” he said.

Independent TD Verona Murphy will also attend. Michael Fitzmaurice was invited, but the organisers say he will not be attending.

A number of farmers will speak of their view of the sector, and Caroline van der Plas will address the meeting, most likely remotely.

It will be her first public interaction in Ireland since the BBB topped the polls in the recent Dutch regional and senate elections.

The meeting is in the Athlone Springs Hotel on Sunday (16 April), starting at 1.30pm.