Independent Farmers to disband 'once proposals are implemented'

The Independent Farmers of Ireland group will “cease to exist” once the beef taskforce proposal agreed last week is implemented, the three national representatives of the protester group confirmed.

In a statement released yesterday evening, Sunday, September 22, the three elected national representatives of the group – Alison de Vere Hunt, Ger Gough and Maggie Delahunty – outlined their reasoning for the disbanding of the group.

It highlighted the proposed beef taskforce proposal in the Irish Beef Sector Agreement, stating: “We feel this taskforce is the key element of the proposal as it will be the police force of the agreement.”

The statement said: “The Independent Farmers of Ireland was not an organisation, but a collective group of individuals united by a common cause.

“As it stands the peaceful protesters who elected us are no longer at the factory gates.

“The Independent Farmers of Ireland will cease to exist once Sunday’s proposal is implemented in full.”

However, the representatives claimed that those who negotiated the Irish Beef Sector Agreement will need to be involved in the implementation of its proposals – highlighting the taskforce in particular.

“In the next phase, the creation of the taskforce, it is vital that all who spent those 36 hours in Agriculture House are there to oversee the implementation of the agreement.

“We are quite happy to step down when the taskforce is set up, but we will not risk jeopardising this by stepping down too soon.

“Once progress has been made on moving this proposal forward the Independent Farmers of Ireland will be dismantled.”

Concluding, the statement outlined that “base price is the next issue and that falls to the beef producer groups and the processors”. The representatives added that they recommend that “all farmers immediately join one”.