The Beef Plan Movement has left the protest outside a meat factory in Ennis, Co. Clare, following a breach in guidelines.
The farmer representative group formally withdrew from the demonstration last night due to farmers acting outside of the regulations agreed by the Beef Plan committee.
Speaking to AgriLand, Beef Plan Movement’s south-west regional chairman Dermot O’Brien explained: “A few farmers are acting outside the guidelines so they decided it was time not to support that protest any longer.
“I met Joseph Woulfe who is chairman of the Beef Plan Clare county committee and he said that they had to pull out. It was completely outside of the guidelines.
In those sorts of situations the Beef Plan cannot participate in a protest that is not peaceful; we’ve always maintained our position that it has to be a peaceful protest.
Commenting on the other protests organised by the movement, O’Brien said: “They seem to be going pretty good at the minute; numbers are growing at the factory entrances.
“Protests are increasing both day and night, particularly the night time pickets; they seem to be quite large now at this moment in time.
“Most gates are seeing anything between 200 and 300 a day; I know that Ballyjamesduff and Ballyhaunis are the exception, they’re bigger again.
“But the likes of Rathkeale would have maybe 200 in the whole day, with the largest contingent at night.”
Woulfe explained that the movement acted on this, taking down its signage from the site and leaving.
The chairman added that farmers are continuing to protest outside the factory but are doing so on an individual basis.