Mayo County Council calls for departure of Bord Bia chairman

Members of Mayo County Council have unanimously called for the resignation of Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin.

The matter was raised at last week's council meeting by Cllr Patsy O’Brien who sought Mr Murrin’s resignation in light of the revelation that his food company Dawn Farms has been using Brazilian beef for some products.

Cllr O’Brien said over 13,000 people in Mayo are dependent on agriculture, deriving almost €130 million annually from the sector, and stated that Mr Murrin has lost the confidence of those people.

Cllr John O’Malley said farmers are subject to rigorous tests by Bord Bia and Mr Murrin should get the same scrutiny. 

“His position is untenable and he should, on principle, stand down. What he is doing is not fair, both to farmers producing food and the people out buying it. He should be embarrassed enough to just step down.” 

Cllr Gerry Murray said the farming community is very worried about the trend of Brazilian beef coming into the country for the last few years and people would like it to have the same laws of traceability as applies to Irish beef, while Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said the standard of food production is so high in Ireland that the confidence in the sector at large is at stake.

Cllr Chris Maxwell said hundreds of concerned farmers attended meetings around the county showing their solidarity with the campaign by the Irish Famers' Association to remove Mr Murrin, while Cllr Richard Finn said importing sub-standard beef can never be allowed.

Cllr Harry Barrett asked that the motion also call on the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon to seek the removal of Mr Murrin and this was agreed by members. Cllr Peter Flynn welcomed the unanimous support for the motion but wondered would it make any difference.

 “I think we are as well to dance a jig on the Mall as we can hardly influence local decision-making let alone national decision-making.”

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.