'Food for thought' in Bord Bia review

THE Bord Bia protest ignited in Monaghan and Cavan at the start of the year has ended like a damp squib following the publication this week of the review into governance at the national food agency.

Farmers began a series of protests following a public meeting in the Hillgrove Hotel in Monaghan in February when it was revealed that the company owned by chairman of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin, was using imported Brazilian beef and poultry in products processed at his Dawn Farms meat processing business.

Dawn Farms said Brazilian beef made up less than one per cent of its overall supply last year. However, farmers were irate given that Bord Bia and its chairman are charged with promoting Irish agriculture and food globally and Irish farmers are held to the highest standards in the production of their beef.

The protests peaked with around 1,500 farmers and supporters attending an IFA protest outside the offices of Agriculture Minister, Martin Heydon, on February 28.

A small group of IFA members, including Richard Moeran from Cavan and Patrick McCormick from Monaghan, also staged a 28-day sit-in protest at Bord Bia HQ in Dublin which ended on March 2. They were calling for Larry Murrin’s resignation.

The protests only ceased when the State agency’s board agreed to an independent expert-led governance review into its operations and Larry Murrin stood aside from chairing board meetings for the duration of the review.

The review, which was commissioned by the Agriculture Minister, was due to be concluded by April 30 but was only released on Monday of this week.

It found Mr Murrin is viewed as providing clear leadership, maintains appropriate focus on governance and strategy and the vast majority of board members of the food and drink marketing body were generally very positive about his performance.

The report also contains 22 recommendations to enhance the board's effectiveness and concluded that, although the body has been highly effective, it "encountered a difficult governance stress test and found that some of its practical operating disciplines were not sufficiently developed for the pressure of the moment".

It found however that recent events had negatively impacted the cohesion and the dynamics of the board and placed it under significant pressure.

It also found that some board members had concerns about board confidentiality and some hold the view there can be ambiguity between the responsibilities of being a board member and being a representative of an external sectoral interest.

When the April 30 deadline for the publication of the review was missed, one of the so-called Bord Bia Five, Richard Moeran from Mountnugent, said he thought the delay a good thing because “it means they are doing a lot of digging".

“I think it’s great because, in all that time, Larry Murrin is not chairing the board or any meetings,” Mr Moeran said.

Cavan beef farmer and Editor of the Irish Farmers’ Journal, Adam Woods, said he felt the review is a “re-set” for Bord Bia and that all concerned “need to turn the page now”.

“I suppose the headline takings from the review is that the vast majority of members have confidence in Larry Murrin but, when you delve a bit further, the review makes 22 recommendations and they certainly give food for thought,” Mr Woods told the Celt.

“There are issues around conflict of interest and around Origin Green and Quality Assurance, which took a lot of us by surprise because, if Bord Bia doesn’t have ownership of these things, then how can farmers be expected to?” he asked.

He also said: “To those who are saying now that we don’t need Bord Bia I would say we have never needed Bord Bia more with imports from New Zealand, UK and elsewhere.”