Minister Creed must support Independent farmer representation at beef talks – Mattie McGrath TD, Carol Nolan TD
Independent TD Mattie McGrath and Independent Offaly TD, Carol Nolan, have called on the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, to facilitate the inclusion of Independent Farmer representatives in any future talks on the beef crisis. The call by the TD’s comes after it emerged that three independent farmer representatives were denied access to discussions aimed at breaking the impasse that has seen beef famers continue to peacefully protest at up to twenty processing plants over the last number of days:
“If the Minister’s call to dialogue is to have any credibility, then he must insist that those who have been legitimately nominated to represent farmers interests be allowed access to the talks.
Failure to listen to these representatives would signal a clear breakdown in trust even before any talks had begun.
We are at a loss to understand why such an exclusionary attitude has been adopted especially since the gravity of the crisis is deepening with each passing day.
All voices must be heard at these discussions, otherwise it is very difficult to see how the outcomes can be accepted as binding.
The farmers are willing to talk. The least the Minister and the other major stakeholders can do is reciprocate this constructive attitude by welcoming them to the process rather than shutting them out.”
