Members of the Beef Plan Movement have held a vote to “rebrand” the group at a virtual meeting this evening (Saturday, May 15).
The meeting was organised by those members who are not aligned with Beef Plan’s co-founders Eamon Corley and Hugh Doyle in the long-running dispute within the organisation.
This evening’s meeting was described as an “AGM” by its organisers.
Participants in the meeting voted to rebrand the organisation as the ‘Irish Beef and Lamb Association’ (IBLA).
Agriland understands that the organisers of tonight’s meeting had already signalled to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine their intention to adopt a new name.
The intention to hold this meeting was announced in January of this year.
When it was announced, organisers said: “An open invitation will be issued… to all farmers who consider themselves to be members of the association.”
Tonight’s event comes just over a week after a meeting organised by co-founders Corley and Doyle, which was also described as an “AGM”.
At that meeting last week, it was reported “that over 1,000 members have registered”.
Given that this figure is considerably lower than past figures for Beef Plan’s membership, it is likely that many individuals who took part in tonight’s meeting would not necessarily be considered members by the co-founders and their supporters.
However, the issue is compounded by the fact that Dermot O’Brien and Enda Fingleton, two key figures among the organisers of tonight’s “AGM”, currently represent the Beef Plan Movement on the Beef Market Taskforce.
When the Beef Plan Movement was invited to take part in talks to resolve the factory gate protests in 2019, the split had not yet occurred.
The dispute came to a head in January 2020. Since then, O’Brien and Fingleton have continued to represent the organisation on the taskforce.
Currently, Eamon Corley and Hugh Doyle are seeking official recognition from the department for the legal entity and panel of directors which they say was formally established and confirmed at the meeting last week.