The war of words between Dairygold co-op and a group of its shareholder/suppliers has escalated further.

The committee of the group known as the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders have drafted an open letter to all shareholders in a public response to the legal letter each of the committee received earlier this week.

The response from the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders has been sent to the Irish Farmers Journal and has been widely shared among Dairygold shareholders.

In it, the committee describe the legal warning as “deeply disappointing and concerning” as it “has threatened us with High Court Proceedings”, which the committee describe as “a first for Dairygold”.

The legal letter “sadly indicated where the board’s focus is right now”, the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders statement continues. “Instead of trying to rationalise the co-op and pursue an agenda of increasing milk price returns to its shareholders, it instead pits farmer against farmer in order to cover up their own inadequacies.”

“The sole purpose” of the letter from Dairygold “is to sever the committee from the [concerned shareholders] group and scare us away”, the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders continue.

Resilient

“We are being denied of free speech and airing our concerns.”

“Fortunately, we as farmers are very resilient and we won’t be threatened out of our own co-op by an authoritarian board and management,” the response continues. The group claims the legal letter is evidence that Dairygold’s committee structure “is no longer fit for purpose as it insulates the board from its farmers”.

Our co-op needs change if it is to serve its shareholders and survive into the future, and we are the ones to drive this change.

The Concerned Dairygold Shareholders restated their main issues of concern in the letter; they are seeking a leading milk price, committee structure reform, and co-op rationalisation.

In relation to allegations of defamatory statements, the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders state “we have never intended to defame anyone or personalise our criticism, but we believe in holding people to account if their decisions hurt farm families”.

“We must be resolute and hold our ground,” their response concludes, “as we will be in a worse position if we back down now. Our co-op needs change if it is to serve its shareholders and survive into the future, and we are the ones to drive this change.”

Background

In January, a group of Dairygold farmers held two meetings for shareholders and suppliers. The trigger for the meetings was Dairygold’s announcement that the co-op’s trading bonus scheme would be intrinsically linked to milk price.

The meetings saw large attendances, with criticism of Dairygold leadership. Notably, the attendance at these meetings saw a lot of younger farmers present.

Dairygold’s board and management did not attend those meetings, but did meet with the five-strong committee formed by farmers at them.

Following last week’s agm, a spokesman for Dairygold and the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders leadership both told the Irish Farmers Journal that there had been positive engagement at the meeting.

However, it emerged on Tuesday that the five members of the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders committee had been sent letters from Dairygold through law firm Arthur Cox warning of “derogatory and defamatory statements” made, the letter said, “under the auspices of the Concerned Dairygold Shareholders group”.

Dairygold stated that comments made on a WhatsApp group, entitled 'Concerned Dairygold Shareholders', were defamatory.

The five-strong committee have now responded with their public letter. The five are Niall Twomey, Ned O’Keeffe, Eoin Bourke, Tadhg MacSweeney and Nigel Sweetnam. Ned O’Keeffe is a former TD and Minister of State, Nigel Sweetnam is the current IFA poultry national chair.

The question now is what the next steps will be. The Concerned Dairygold Shareholders had previously threatened to seek a special general meeting (SGM) to forward their agenda of reform.

Will the threat of legal action build sympathy and support for them? Or can a way be found to de-escalate the rising tension. There is little doubt that there are plenty of challenges facing the co-op without a power struggle taking place internally.