Council on the fence in farmer dispute

Cork County Council has stopped short of officially joining the call for Bord Bia chair Larry Murrin to step down from his role.

During Monday’s full meeting of Cork County Council, members instead voted to lend their support to an independent review of Bord Bia which is expected to last until late April.

According to media reports, at least nine other local authorities around the country have directly called for Mr Murrin to step down or be removed from his role after it was found that his company Dawn Farms had been importing Brazilian beef for use in its products.

The revelation prompted a four week sit-in protest at the State agency’s Dublin offices by members of the Irish Famers’ Association (IFA) which ended last week when Bord Bia agreed to a review.

On Monday, Fermoy Cllr Peter O'Donoghue (Aontú) tabled a motion calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon TD, to suspend Mr Murrin with immediate effect.

However, an amendment proposed by Fianna Fáil Cllr Gearóid Murphy suggesting the council support the internal review rather than calling for the suspension of Mr Murrin, was voted for and passed by members.

Cllr Murphy said: “The matter is currently pending an ongoing and independent review, and it's important that we don't pre-empt the results of the investigation.”

With visiting members of the IFA watching on from within the chamber, Cllr O’Donoghue expressed his deep frustration at the amendment, saying his motion had been “flipped upside down”.

He said: “That's totally different to the motion.

“My motion is calling for the Minister for Agriculture to suspend Larry Murrin from his position as Chairman of Bord Bia, and our amendment is calling for Cark County Council to support a review.

“It's a complete contradiction,” added Cllr O’Donoghue.

The Fermoy representative pointed out the level of stringency employed by Bord Bia in its inspections of Irish farms and the resulting conflict of interest in then bringing in meat from overseas.

He continued: “So, while the farmers being inspected by Bord Bia have to go through all this regulation, all this red tape, all this bureaucracy, the chairman at the top of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin, has been found to be importing beef from Brazil into Ireland through his company, Dawn Farms, a country with little to no regulation, no red tape, and no traceability.”

Independent Ireland Cllr Danny Collins, who had an almost identical motion on Monday’s agenda, was in support of Cllr O’Donoghue, with the two councillors agreeing to merge their motions.

Cllr Collins said: “We should as a council be seen standing with our rural communities that deserve healthy food security. I honestly believe if you set the rules, you must keep to the rules.

“The majority of farmers and the country have lost faith and confidence in the chair of Bord Bia,” he added.