LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago

BORD BIA’S BOARD has moved to support its chair, Larry Murrin, despite political and farming sector pressure over revelations that his company sourced a small proportion of beef from Brazil.

It follows revelations from an article in Agriland.ie which stated that Murrin’s firm, Dawn Farms, sourced some of its beef from Brazil last year.

Dawn Farms told Agriland that “Irish beef made up the majority of our supply” last year and that Irish beef, “together with the UK and other EU countries, accounted for 99% of our annual supply”.

The company added that “Brazilian beef accounted for the remaining 1%”.

In a statement issued this evening, Bord Bia chief executive Jim O’Toole said the board reached a consensus to support Murrin following what he described as a “full, open, and considered discussion” of the issue.

The decision was not unanimous, the board said, with farmer organisations represented on the board – namely the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) – not backing Murrin.

The board nevertheless “unanimously commended” Murrin, citing his “significant contribution to the sector” and the “invaluable industry experience” he brings to the role.

“Today’s discussion focused on the need to protect and maintain the confidence of Irish farmers, who the Board agreed are the bedrock of Bord Bia, while also recognising the critical importance of meeting the needs of customers in highly competitive global markets, which is essential to securing the long-term future of the sector,” the statement from the board said.

Political reaction

Earlier today, Tánaiste Simon Harris told Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty that the Dáil is not a “kangaroo court” after Doherty called for Murrin to be removed from his position.

In response to calls from Sinn Féin for Murrin to leave his post “immediately”, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon yesterday said that Murrin has performed his job to a satisfactory level.

Speaking this afternoon in the Dáil, Doherty claimed that the Brazilian beef sector is “repeatedly associated across Europe with food safety scares, traceability failures, animal welfare concerns and weak regulatory oversight”.

Doherty added that “Brazilian beef has already had to be recalled from Irish supermarket shelves” and has “been the subject of sustained and serious concern for years”.

Pearse Doherty speaking in the Dáil this afternoon Oireachtas TV Oireachtas TV

He added that at a time when Irish farmers are “being asked to meet even higher environmental, welfare and regulatory standards,” the chair of Bord Bia is “linked to imports from a sector that does not operate to those standards”.

Doherty said it is a “fundamental conflict of interest” and further “accused the government of “defending the indefensible by refusing to acknowledge an obvious conflict of interest”.

Doherty asked Harris if he “accepts there is a fundamental conflict of interest in the chair of Bord Bia also being chief executive of a company importing Brazilian beef to Ireland”.

“And if you do accept that, will the government finally act and remove the chair from his position,” added Doherty, who described the situation as “untenable”.

Harris replied that Bord Bia is an “exemplary organisation that’s fulfilling its mandate with distinction” and noted that the board is meeting to consider these matters.

“That is the appropriate, responsible, fair way of considering and examining any issue when it arises, not shouting and roaring at each other on the floor of this house,” added Harris.

Harris also noted that Francie Gorman, the president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, said that the decision by the board to convene a meeting today was the “correct one”.

Gorman added that he spoke to Murrin last weekend about his “grave concerns” and asked for an emergency board meeting.

Gorman said he will refrain from expressing his views on what should happen next until after today’s meeting, and Harris described this as the “responsible thing to do”.

“That’s also what the Minister for Agriculture will do,” said Harris.

“We are going to follow a due process. This place isn’t a kangaroo court where we just come in and say, off with your head.

“I have confidence in the board of Bord Bia to do its duty in terms of examining any issues, perceived or real, that would arise and then to give their view to the minister.”

Doherty then remarked that the agriculture minister has the power to remove the chair and that the board does not have that power.

The Sinn Féin TD again asked Harris if he has “confidence in the chair to continue when he acknowledges he’s importing beef that does not live up to the same standard as Irish farmers”.

Harris responded that Doherty too often in the Dáil “just comes in, says somebody’s name and calls for them to be sacked”.

He added: “Can you wait a few minutes? Can you wait for it to actually sit down, have a conversation and then report to the minister, or does it have to be now in time for the one o’clock news?

“This shoot first and ask questions later that your party is steeped in doesn’t serve democracy well.

Harris added: “I have confidence in the process. I know process is really inconvenient, democracy and all of that.

“Kangaroo courts are much easier, but actually allowing somebody an opportunity to talk, to answer questions and a board to give a considered view is how this government functions.

“And that is a stark difference between this government and our responsible politics and your populism.”

Meanwhile, IFA president Francie Gorman this afternoon said he made a “formal proposal” for Murrin’s resignation at today’s meeting when Murrin “refused to resign”.

Gorman said the acting Chair did not put this proposal forward as “he said it was a matter for the Minister”.

“If Bord Bia is to have any chance of restoring this, then the Chair must be removed,” said Gorman.