Mayo IFA meeting cancelled as Bord Bia sit-in ends and governance review announced

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) have confirmed to the Mayo News that the Westport meeting, which had been due to take place at the Castlecourt Hotel on the Bord Bia controversy, will no longer proceed in light of the latest developments.

The decision comes after five farmers ended their sit-in at Bord Bia headquarters and the IFA stood down its protest outside the building.

In a statement, the IFA said: “Our five farmers have ended their sit-in and we have stood down our protest outside Bord Bia HQ following the announcement after today’s board meeting that Larry Murrin will step aside from chairing meetings during the review.”

Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin will remain in his role while a governance review takes place, but will not chair board meetings during the review period.

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The cancellation of the Westport meeting comes in the broader context of the winding down of the immediate protest action.

Prior to the announcement, the Mayo IFA County Executive had invited all Mayo county councillors to attend two open information meetings across the county. 

The first of these was scheduled for the Park Hotel in Kiltimagh to cover the Ballina and Claremorris/Swinford municipal areas, with the second planned for Westport on Monday, March 9 to cover the Castlebar and Westport/Belmullet areas.

Mayo IFA has been calling for the resignation of Mr Murrin as chairman of Bord Bia and had sought to brief local representatives on the issues raised in recent weeks.

While the Westport meeting has now been cancelled, the governance review is expected to examine the matters highlighted by the IFA during its protest campaign.

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