It's “Newbridge or nowhere” for the IFA next Saturday, as their campaign to remove Larry Murrin from the chair of Bord Bia escalates significantly.
In an emotionally-charged meeting in Athy’s Clanard Court Hotel on Tuesday evening, in Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon’s own south Kildare constituency, the packed hall called again and again for IFA president Francie Gorman to lead farmers onto the streets.
At the end of the meeting, having heard from over 30 speakers, Gorman pledged to ask the IFA’s national officer’s committee to agree that a mass rally in Newbridge, where Martin Heydon's constituency office is situated, will be the next move.
A wide range of IFA members spoke, including the five people who have now spent 22 days in Bord Bia's offices who talked to the meeting by video link. The IFA’s cause was also supported by Anna Marie McHugh of the National Ploughing Association.
Politicians of every hue also called for Larry Murrin to go. Martin Kenny led a strong Sinn Féin delegation, which included local TD, Natasha Newsome Drennan, from nearby Carlow/Kilkenny. Local Labour TD Mark Wall spoke strongly, as did independent county councillors and Independent Ireland councillors.
Government TDs
Notably, people from Government parties also spoke out against Larry Murrin staying as chair of Bord Bia. South Kildare county councillor Local Fianna Fáil councillor Veralousie Behan said it was “wrong” that Murrin remained, while Laois Fine Gael TD Willie Aird said he was making the case that Larry Murrin could not remain, but was not being listened to.
Sinn Féin's agriculture spokesperson Martin Kenny addresses the massive attendance at the IFA's meeting in the Clanard Court Hotel over Larry Murrin's continued chairmanship of Bord Bia.
The atmosphere throughout the meeting was febrile, with palpable anger in the room over the refusal of government to listen to the voices of farmers. There was also considerable anger at the treatment of the five people occupying Bord Bia's building. Former Galway IFA chair Anne Mitchell claimed that the five were being refused access to use the shower facilities in the building they occupied.
“Personal hygiene was a basic human right,” she said, adding that a medical examination had taken place of the five protesters to ensure their good health last Friday. However, she also claimed that Bord Bia had refused to allow the five to have a shower before they undertook the examination.
It's now over a month since the IFA president, Francie Gorman, joined by Denis Drennan the ICMSA president, called for Larry Murrin to step aside or to be relieved of his position as chair of Bord Bia by Minister Martin Heydon at a board meeting of that body.
But if anyone thought that this campaign would fizzle out, the opposite is now the case.
It's “Newbridge or nowhere” for the IFA next Saturday, as their campaign to remove Larry Murrin from the chair of Bord Bia escalates significantly.
In an emotionally-charged meeting in Athy’s Clanard Court Hotel on Tuesday evening, in Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon’s own south Kildare constituency, the packed hall called again and again for IFA president Francie Gorman to lead farmers onto the streets.
At the end of the meeting, having heard from over 30 speakers, Gorman pledged to ask the IFA’s national officer’s committee to agree that a mass rally in Newbridge, where Martin Heydon's constituency office is situated, will be the next move.
A wide range of IFA members spoke, including the five people who have now spent 22 days in Bord Bia's offices who talked to the meeting by video link. The IFA’s cause was also supported by Anna Marie McHugh of the National Ploughing Association.
Politicians of every hue also called for Larry Murrin to go. Martin Kenny led a strong Sinn Féin delegation, which included local TD, Natasha Newsome Drennan, from nearby Carlow/Kilkenny. Local Labour TD Mark Wall spoke strongly, as did independent county councillors and Independent Ireland councillors.
Government TDs
Notably, people from Government parties also spoke out against Larry Murrin staying as chair of Bord Bia. South Kildare county councillor Local Fianna Fáil councillor Veralousie Behan said it was “wrong” that Murrin remained, while Laois Fine Gael TD Willie Aird said he was making the case that Larry Murrin could not remain, but was not being listened to.
Sinn Féin's agriculture spokesperson Martin Kenny addresses the massive attendance at the IFA's meeting in the Clanard Court Hotel over Larry Murrin's continued chairmanship of Bord Bia.
The atmosphere throughout the meeting was febrile, with palpable anger in the room over the refusal of government to listen to the voices of farmers. There was also considerable anger at the treatment of the five people occupying Bord Bia's building. Former Galway IFA chair Anne Mitchell claimed that the five were being refused access to use the shower facilities in the building they occupied.
“Personal hygiene was a basic human right,” she said, adding that a medical examination had taken place of the five protesters to ensure their good health last Friday. However, she also claimed that Bord Bia had refused to allow the five to have a shower before they undertook the examination.
It's now over a month since the IFA president, Francie Gorman, joined by Denis Drennan the ICMSA president, called for Larry Murrin to step aside or to be relieved of his position as chair of Bord Bia by Minister Martin Heydon at a board meeting of that body.
But if anyone thought that this campaign would fizzle out, the opposite is now the case.
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