Week seven of the beef protests has seen further escalation of the dispute and division. Meat Industry Ireland and farmers are separately in talks with Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed as we go to print, with processors coming under pressure to directly engage with farmers.

The announcements of thousands of temporary redundancies of factory workers and the effective closure of the processing sector has ramped up the stakes.

Farmers with cattle to kill face a further worrying wait, with only smaller processors operating.

Last week, despite extensive protests blockading 20 factories according to MII, the kill was 22,000, over 60% of what would be expected. This week, the kill is expected to be as low as 10,000 cattle, little more than quarter the “peacetime” throughput.

IFA president Joe Healy called on processors “to get off their high horse” and engage directly with farmers.

Healy also called for prices to be a key part of future talks. He confirmed that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, which the IFA met last Friday, said there is no impediment to cattle prices being discussed at roundtable beef talks.

Factory gates

The Independent Farmers, of Ireland, which says it speaks for protesting farmers, indicated that factory gates might have been clear of protests by Thursday had talks begun on Monday.

One of its spokespeople, Ger Gough, said discussions with Michael Dowling, the beef talks chair, suggested room for progress.

“If we got what the chair had in front of him, we might be able to recommend an end to the protests,” he said.