A statement from Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has said its members will “defer further legal proceedings, so that talks can happen”.
However, it is expected that protest action at the plants will equally be suspended, if a process of engagement is secured by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.
Following Minister Creed’s statement, MII has said that the industry “welcomes the opportunity to participate in a new round of talks to end the current impasse with a view to securing a return to the normal business of the beef sector”.
The processing sector has been seriously hampered by protests and blockades in recent weeks which have served no useful purpose.
Continuing, the statement added that the ongoing protests instead have: “Severely impacted domestic and international customers of Irish beef and farmers seeking to deliver factory-ready cattle for processing as well as meat industry employees across the country.”
For these reasons, MII explained that processors were “forced to take legal action in order to limit the damage being caused to their businesses”.
While such action was a last resort, it was not a step that companies wished to take or indeed took lightly.
Concluding, the MII statement reiterated: “The injunctions were granted based on the evidence presented of illegal blockades and commercial damages caused to the businesses concerned.”