THE BOARD OF Bord Bia is due to meet tomorrow to discuss calls for the resignation of their chair, Larry Murrin, following revelations about his food supply sourcing Brazilian beef for the Irish market. 

In response to calls from Sinn Féin for Murrin to leave his post “immediately”, Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon today said that Murrin has performed his job to a satisfactory level, and that board of Bord Bia is to meet tomorrow to discuss the matter. 

Today’s developments followed on from an article in Agriland.ie which stated that Murrin’s firm, Dawn Farm Foods sources some of its beef from Brazil.

Questions were first raised when the Beef Plan Movement – a beef farmer representative organisation – raised questions over whether sandwich shop chain Subway was using Brazilian beef.

As it turns out Subway clearly stated that they do not use Brazilian beef in Irish shops, whereas their supplier (and Murrin’s company) Dawn Farm Foods said that it gets most of its beef from Ireland, and that Brazilian beef accounts for 1% of its annual supply. 

However the Dawn spokesperson added that none of their Brazilian beef was sold to Subway. 

Fast forward a week and Murrin is now facing calls for him to lose his job from the leading opposition party in the country. 

McDonald said that his position is “utterly untenable” now that we know he has imported Brazilian beef. 

Bord Bia, also known as the Irish food board, has responsibility for ensuring the quality of food and drink sold in Ireland. 

Part of that involves seeing that Irish farmers meet certain standards in the production of beef in order for their food to have the board’s stamp of approval. 

Sinn Féin has argued that this quality assurance scheme creates more paperwork for Irish farmers, and means that they have to track what vaccines are given to animals, and how animals are moved and what they are fed. 

McDonald said that given the prominence and importance of that scheme, it is not suitable for Murrin to be associated with the importation of Brazilian beef. 

“This directly undermines Irish farming, damages confidence in the agri-food sector, and cuts across the core mission of Bord Bia itself,” she said today. 

McDonald said that at a time when Irish farmers are asked to meet “ever-higher standards” it is troubling for the chair of Bord Bia to be linked to this. 

In a statement Minister Heydon told The Journal that Murrin has “discharged his duties as Chairman of Bord Bia in a satisfactory manner to date”. 

“The operation of the Board of Bord Bia is a matter for the Board itself. I am however aware that Mr Murrin has engaged directly with Bord Bia board members on the issues which are being covered in the media,” he said, adding that senior figures in the organisation will discuss the controversy tomorrow.

Murrin was appointed in 2024, and his appointment is due to last for a period of three years.