Members of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) have ended their sit-in protest at Bord Bia, after the State agency’s board agreed to an independent expert-led governance review into its operations.
Larry Murrin will stand aside from chairing board meetings for the duration of the review.
However, according to Bord Bia, Mr Murrin will remain as chair of the state agency.
A statement from the board said “in the interests of moving forward, the board and the chair have agreed that these meetings will be facilitated by another current Board member”.
The agreement follows an IFA proposal to examine the state agency’s board-membership eligibility, as well as its various quality-assurance schemes.
The IFA had been protesting outside Bord Bia’s offices in Dublin for over a month, while five IFA members staged a sit-in protest inside the reception area of the building for four weeks.
The dispute started after it emerged Mr Murrin’s company Dawn Farms had been importing some Brazilian beef for use in its products.
Farming organisations had called on him to step down over the issue – claiming it created a conflict of interest – given the state agency’s role in promoting Irish food.
In a statement this evening, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon welcomed the agreement.
He said: “I am pleased that my proposal for an independent governance review of the board of Bord Bia has been accepted and that the ongoing protest has been stood down.
“Larry Murrin will remain as chair of Bord Bia and as agreed by the board and the chair in the interests of moving forward, during the period of the review scheduled board meetings will be facilitated by another current board member.”
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon welcomed the agreement.
Earlier, Minister Heydon had accused the leadership of the IFA of deliberately misleading its members in relation to its dispute with Bord Bia.
In a statement, Mr Heydon said it is “disappointing that farmers are being denied the detail at the heart of this issue by the leadership of the IFA”.
He said the IFA is “whipping up” business deals, which are very explainable and ultimately in Irish farmers’ best interests”.
On Saturday, around 1,500 people attended an IFA protest outside the minister’s constituency office in Newbridge, Co Kildare, during which damage was done to signage at the office.
Afterwards, Mr Heydon described the IFA’s stance on the Bord Bia dispute as “reckless” and said it “led to a situation where damage is being inflicted on my constituency office”.
“This is not something you normally associate with IFA protests,” the minister added.
Mr Heydon has filed a complaint with gardaí in relation to the incident.
In response, the IFA said it is “aware that two signs outside the Minister’s office were damaged” during the protest and that the organisation contacted his office “to make them aware of this and to say we would replace them”.
The situation has seen IFA farmers protest outside Bord Bia’s offices for over a month
Mr Heydon said he has asked for the IFA to “give proper consideration to the very fair proposal that I’ve put forward in response to the farm organisations’ submissions.
“An independent governance review is what the IFA and other farm organisations have asked for.
“The board could agree to not meet for the entirety of the review period, giving time and space for the questions raised about conflicts of interest, etc. to be independently examined and adjudicated on,” Mr Heydon added.
The Government has repeatedly given the Bord Bia chair its full backing saying Mr Murrin has done nothing wrong, despite calls from opposition parties for him to be removed.
Earlier this month, Mr Murrin defended his company’s use of Brazilian beef in front of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture.
Mr Murrin said a requirement of Dawn Farms’ contracts to supply cooked meats to international brands involves demonstrating an ability to source “beef or any other raw material from different sources” that can be used in the event of a supply disruption anywhere in Europe.