The President of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association Colm O’Donnell has pointed the finger of blame at the Minister for Agriculture for the gridlock on streets surrounding Dail Éireann and the Department of Agriculture offices.
The Minister he stated “has sat on his hands regarding the convening of the Beef Task-force which has led to further unrest,” This unrest he added “is being fuelled by the refusal of C&D foods to withdraw their legal action against farmers who were exercising their legitimate right to protest.”
The Minister he continued “gave assurances to the Beef Task-force that all injunctions against individual farmers and associations would be lifted when all farmer protests ceased. Unfortunately the Minister has he not acted to ensure the agreement was honoured despite having executive powers at his disposal, which could sort out the injunctions at C&D foods.” This processing facility added the INHFA Leader “cannot operate without DAFM veterinary controls, which gives the Minister adequate leverage to ensure a satisfactory conclusion.”
Concluding O’Donnell outlined how the INHFA position remains in full solidarity with the two farmers that are still dealing with these injunctions. We have he stated “not engaged with the Task-force to date and neither have we engaged in bi lateral talks held in recent weeks with Task-force stakeholders and the Chairman.”
