President and leader of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald has reiterated her party’s call for Larry Murrin to step down as chair of Bord Bia.
McDonald has said that confidence in Bord Bia’s mission and message has been undermined following the recent controversy surrounding the semi-State agency.
“This is not a personal issue. It is a professional one. Farmers are being asked to meet ever-higher environmental, animal welfare and traceability standards, often at considerable cost and uncertainty.
“Against that backdrop, it is impossible to justify a situation where the body responsible for promoting Irish beef is chaired by someone whose company imports competing beef from regions operating under different standards,” deputy McDonald told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The problem, she added, becomes even more acute when viewed through the lens of the proposed EU-Mercosur trade deal.
“Irish farmers have been consistent and clear in their opposition to Mercosur. They understand the implications – increased imports of beef produced to lower standards, downward pressure on prices, and the erosion of Ireland’s family farm model. The Government claims to oppose the deal, yet its actions continue to send contradictory signals. Nowhere is that contradiction clearer than in Bord Bia,” she said.
Farmers deserve certainty that the bodies speaking on their behalf do so without compromise or conflicting interests, McDonald argued.
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