It was standing room only at the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) public meeting in Cavan on Wednesday night, which centered on the ongoing protest over Larry Murrin's position as chair of Bord Bia.

One of the first speakers on the night was senior IFA policy executive Tomas Bourke, who commented that “Brazilian beef is a lot cheaper and has a lot lower standards. The price means that it's very attractive for anyone trading in meat.”

Bourke went on to say that “the reality is that the Bord Bia Quality Assurance schemes aren’t voluntary, but instead they are a second layer of additional standards that are required by many in industry and don’t forget that this scheme has a 100% inspection rate".

ADVERTISEMENT

President of the IFA Francie Gorman paid particular credit to the five protesters who are occupying the Bord Bia offices in Pembroke Road.

A number of the five protesters' families had travelled to the meeting on Wednesday night from as far away as Donegal.

He outlined what he said were discrepancies around procedures in relation to the how the chair Larry Murrin stayed in the room at the first board meeting on 22 January when the issue was raised.

“ICOS took that proposal to the Minister as to how to resolve the matter with the seven points proposed by the IFA and they were sent out quicker than they went in,” he claimed.

No other choice

"We were promised that we would get a board meeting this week and that hasn’t happened yet

"We have to see this out. We have no other choice. We have to finish it.

"The only person that can call a meeting under Bord Bia rules is the chair.

"There is going to be problems at retail and processor retail level if we don’t solve this issue soon. I would be genuinely concerned about the future of Bord Bia," he said.

Cavan IFA chair Eoin Brodie questioned the Bord Bia chair’s morals, stating he was unfit for office.

We have to see this out. We have no other choice

Addressing the meeting, IFA treasurer Patrick McCormick said: “I am so privileged to be here with these people who have put their lives on hold, but they did it because they think it’s the right think to do. We’re not here to damage Bord Bia but rather to preserve Bord Bia.

"The frustrating thing is that no one is listening to us, including the chairman. We can assure you we are well and we are going to see this out,” McCormick said.

Audits

Edmund Graham, a farmer from Co Monaghan and a temporary beef spokesperson with the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA), said that he has contacted Bord Bia to say that he wanted to postpone his Bord Bia audit until the current issue is resolved.

He was joined by a number of farmers in the room who called for farmers to suspend the audits.

Brendan Hanley, a farmer from Longford, told the meeting: “We cant be audited by Bord Bia."

IFA livestock chair Declan Hanrahan said: “Larry Murrin needs to go and needs to go quick. The Tánaiste came out this evening and said the Government got it wrong when it came to special needs assistants. Well I think he has also got it wrong when it comes to Larry Murrin and he needs to come out and say it."

Local farmer Joe Brady said: “We can’t stand for these double standards and we have to see this out. I know Martin Heydon and I can’t understand what he’s doing.”

IFA dairy chair Martin McElearney spoke at the meeting, saying that dairy co-ops need to get in behind this fight.

"Co-ops were set up to empower farmers and they need to do now what they say on the tin."

There was some calls also to get the people that are stuck in Bord Bia home and for action to be ramped up quickly in order to apply pressure on politicians.