Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae has accused the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) of hitching its wagon to Sinn Féin over the controversy surrounding Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin.
Minister Healy-Rae called for the ongoing row between the IFA and Bord Bia over Murrin’s company Dawn Farm Foods’ importation of Brazilian beef to look to the approach taken to bringing the Troubles to a close.
“If you want my honest opinion about this, if IFA are hitching their trailer to Sinn Féin’s wagon, that worries me,” he said in the Dáil on Wednesday when speaking on a Sinn Féin motion calling for Murrin’s removal.
“And IFA, I want to tell you about Sinn Féin and what they are doing.
“They wake up in the morning, they wet their finger, they see which way the wind is blowing and they go that way.
“And the other thing they do, is they live for Facebook. Their governance is Facebook...[they] see which way the wind is blowing and that’s Sinn Féin’s policy for the day.
IFA members know what SF ‘are at’
“And you are hitching yourselves to their wagons and the killing thing about this is, that the IFA membership up and down the country that I am listening to and that I am talking to, they know what this crowd are at.”
The forestry minister claimed that many of the opposition TDs calling for the removal of Murrin “wouldn’t know the difference bull from a heifer”.
Government figures called for dialogue to resolve the row rumbling into its 11th day between the IFA and Bord Bia over Larry Murrin. \ Philip Doyle
Minister Healy-Rae said the fact that Murrin was due before the joint Oireachtas committee on agriculture on Thursday afternoon was a positive move.
“I welcome, chairperson, what is going to happen... the fact that there is going to be dialogue,” he said.
“What Minister Heydon wanted all along, for people to sit down and have dialogue.
“We stopped fighting and killing each other above in the North with dialogue.”
Farmer anger understandable - Kenny
Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny put the motion to Dáil Éireann that the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon should use his statutory powers to remove Murrin.
Kenny said that “a child being raised in this country does not need to have the same level of records” as a farmer keeps to comply with Bord Bia quality assurance audits.
“It is no wonder then that farmers are angry when they hear that the chairperson of Bord Bia Larry Murrin is importing possibly contaminated Brazilian beef into the supply of his own company in this country,” he said.
“He claims that it is only 1% of the beef he uses and that may be so but we all know that Brazilian beef is produced at about 1% of the standards that Irish farmers must comply with.”
Dooley urges caution
Government colleague Minister of State Timmy Dooley told the house that opposition parties had proven that they do not understand “how complex the supply chain is now” and “how the requirements of the customer is very different”.
Minister Dooley claimed that removing Larry Murrin from his role as Bord Bia chairman would open Irish beef credentials up to fire from international competitors.
“They would say there’s a problem with Irish beef, there is a problem with the standards, there is a problem with the agency and that would open up an entirely new front,” he said.
“And I suspect in a number of weeks we would have another motion from yourselves that would say ‘you have hung the wrong man, look at the negative consequences’.”
A vote on the motion is to held next week.
Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae has accused the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) of hitching its wagon to Sinn Féin over the controversy surrounding Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin.
Minister Healy-Rae called for the ongoing row between the IFA and Bord Bia over Murrin’s company Dawn Farm Foods’ importation of Brazilian beef to look to the approach taken to bringing the Troubles to a close.
“If you want my honest opinion about this, if IFA are hitching their trailer to Sinn Féin’s wagon, that worries me,” he said in the Dáil on Wednesday when speaking on a Sinn Féin motion calling for Murrin’s removal.
“And IFA, I want to tell you about Sinn Féin and what they are doing.
“They wake up in the morning, they wet their finger, they see which way the wind is blowing and they go that way.
“And the other thing they do, is they live for Facebook. Their governance is Facebook...[they] see which way the wind is blowing and that’s Sinn Féin’s policy for the day.
IFA members know what SF ‘are at’
“And you are hitching yourselves to their wagons and the killing thing about this is, that the IFA membership up and down the country that I am listening to and that I am talking to, they know what this crowd are at.”
The forestry minister claimed that many of the opposition TDs calling for the removal of Murrin “wouldn’t know the difference bull from a heifer”.
Government figures called for dialogue to resolve the row rumbling into its 11th day between the IFA and Bord Bia over Larry Murrin. \ Philip Doyle
Minister Healy-Rae said the fact that Murrin was due before the joint Oireachtas committee on agriculture on Thursday afternoon was a positive move.
“I welcome, chairperson, what is going to happen... the fact that there is going to be dialogue,” he said.
“What Minister Heydon wanted all along, for people to sit down and have dialogue.
“We stopped fighting and killing each other above in the North with dialogue.”
Farmer anger understandable - Kenny
Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny put the motion to Dáil Éireann that the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon should use his statutory powers to remove Murrin.
Kenny said that “a child being raised in this country does not need to have the same level of records” as a farmer keeps to comply with Bord Bia quality assurance audits.
“It is no wonder then that farmers are angry when they hear that the chairperson of Bord Bia Larry Murrin is importing possibly contaminated Brazilian beef into the supply of his own company in this country,” he said.
“He claims that it is only 1% of the beef he uses and that may be so but we all know that Brazilian beef is produced at about 1% of the standards that Irish farmers must comply with.”
Dooley urges caution
Government colleague Minister of State Timmy Dooley told the house that opposition parties had proven that they do not understand “how complex the supply chain is now” and “how the requirements of the customer is very different”.
Minister Dooley claimed that removing Larry Murrin from his role as Bord Bia chairman would open Irish beef credentials up to fire from international competitors.
“They would say there’s a problem with Irish beef, there is a problem with the standards, there is a problem with the agency and that would open up an entirely new front,” he said.
“And I suspect in a number of weeks we would have another motion from yourselves that would say ‘you have hung the wrong man, look at the negative consequences’.”
A vote on the motion is to held next week.
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