Mayo IFA vote in favour of removing Bord Bia chairman

MEMBERS of the IFA in Mayo have voted in favour of removing the Bord Bia chairman from his position.

A unanimous decision was taken at the Mayo IFA county executive's annual general meeting in Castlebar calling for the removal of Larry Murrin as chairman of the authority.

IFA members have been protesting at Bord Bia headquarters over the use of Brazilian beef by Mr. Murrin's company, Dawn Farms.

IFA president Francie Gorman said farmers would be astonished that the chair of Bord Bia is not part of the relevant QA Scheme for his own business.

“This is the core issue that we have raised in the last four weeks,” he said. “Farmers will rightly ask why they have to comply with QA Schemes, but the chair of Bord Bia decided it didn’t apply to him.

“The fact that their website incorrectly said Dawn Farm Foods had QA, and this had to be corrected, raises some questions about the credibility of Bord Bia,” said Mr. Gorman.

The IFA protest at Bord Bia will continue until the chair is removed, he pledged.

“Bord Bia has questions to answer,” said Mr. Gorman. “The ongoing dispute means that farmer confidence has been badly damaged. Farmers do not want to be protesting at Bord Bia, and certainly not at this time of year. But they feel they have no choice.”

Trust among farmers will only be restored if a new chair is put in place, he added.