The responsibility for the “ugly scenes” at factory gates yesterday evening, Monday, September 2, “rest squarely on the shoulders of beef processors and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed”.
This was said by the Irish Farmers’ Association’s (IFA’s) presidential candidate, Tim Cullinan. He continued: “Scenes today with farmers being arrested are categorical proof of Minister Creed’s abject failure to address the beef crisis.
The crisis for beef producers has long been brewing and the minister’s denial and hands-off approach has led to the breakdown we are now witnessing.
Cullinan said that for the minister to blame farmers for the breakdown when they are the victims is “a political cop-out”.
Continuing, Cullinan claimed: “When the beef talks took place, the minister adopted the role of a bystander when he should have called the beef factories to heel and demanded that they address farmers’ grievances.
“The minister is whistling past the graveyard and looking for talks.
However, when he had an opportunity to stand up to the beef cartel, he actually took their side in not forcing them to address the root cause of the protest.
Cullinan concluded: “Those same beef barons have received hundreds of millions of taxpayers money in grants and supports to build up their businesses and are laughing all the way to the bank.”