Carlow councillors call for removal of Bord Bia chairman over ‘disgraceful issue’

Carlow councillors have passed a motion calling on the Bord Bia chairman, Larry Murrin, to be removed from his position.

The motion was passed in the presence of a number of Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) members at the February plenary meeting of Carlow County Council.

The IFA have held a number of protests in recent weeks after it emerged that Mr Murrin’s company, Dawn Farms, is importing Brazilian beef.

The organisation claims that this represents a conflict of interest, given Bord Bia’s role in promoting Irish produce.

Speaking on the motion, Fine Gael councillor Ben Ward called for the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, to remove Mr Murrin from his position.

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Cllr Ward said: “This is not about Bord Bia, it’s not about the organisation as a whole, this is about one person.

“Larry Murrin is undermining the confidence farmers have and the support farmers have for Bord Bia, which is an organisation that markets the quality of Irish beef in this country and right around the world.

“Currently, there is one person and one person only that is jeopardising that confidence that farmers have, the people who actually do the work.

“They have confidence in Bord Bia but they can’t have confidence in Bord Bia while that one person remains.”

He concluded by saying that the motion was simple and that Mr Murrin “must go”.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil councillor Daniel Pender highlighted the reputation that the Irish beef industry has right across the world.

He described Mr Murrin as “compromised” and called for him to resign from his position.

People Before Profit-Solidarity councillor Adrienne Wallace outlined a meeting that has was held between the IFA and public representatives at the Dolmen Hotel the night before.

Cllr Wallace said: “The meeting last night was phenomenal. I was blown away really by the passion and the power of the farmers, many of whom are here today.

“I tell you, if half of them joined People Before Profit, we’d have the country right in the morning lads.

“It really is a situation that’s black and white. This one man is undermining Bord Bia and undermining the integrity and the hard work of the farmers here behind us.”

She added that local TDs and the Government need to “wake up and smell the roses” and side with the IFA on the issue.

The Mayor of Carlow, Cllr Paul Doogue, acknowledged the challenges that farmers face on a daily basis, as someone who comes from a farming background.

He told the meeting that he has written to over 200 councillors across the country and asked them to put pressure on their TDs.

Sinn Féin councillor Jim Deane said that the conflict of interest is a “disgraceful issue” that must be addressed immediately.

He added that he was only calling Mr Murrin a gentleman “for the sake of the record” and accused him of having no “regard for anything only his own pocket”.

However, these comments appeared to receive pushback from Fine Gael councillor Brian O’Donoghue.

Cllr O’Donoghue said: “I just want to reiterate that the problem we’re talking about here is a clear conflict of interest in terms of the individual’s involvement in a particular business as well as being on the board of Bord Bia.

“That might sound like an obvious thing to say but I think some of my colleagues have made comments that I just think we need to be a little bit careful of.

“There’s a clear conflict of interest and his position is untenable but I think we should maybe pull back from making personal comments that we can’t verify in terms of the man’s performance as the chair.”

He highlighted that councillors do not have parliamentary privilege in the same way TDs have in the Dáil.

He urged councillors to avoid “getting personal” and using the issue as a “political football”.

Cllr O’Donoghue added that he had been in contact with Minister Heydon in the aftermath of the IFA meeting.

While he did not outline the Minister’s response to what was raised, he expressed hope that he takes it on board.

At the end of the discussion, the motion, which called on Minister Heydon to intervene and remove Mr Murrin from his position, was passed unanimously.