Sinn Féin spokesperson on Agriculture and Food, Martin Kenny has said that a new chairperson is needed at Bord Bia.

The comments follow the publication of a governance review last week which was part of an agreement to end Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) protests at the Bord Bia head office in Dublin earlier in the year.

The IFA had called for the resignation or removal of the chair of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin following confirmation that Murrin's company, Dawn Farm Foods, sourced 1% of its beef supply from Brazil in 2025.

The review found no fundamental governance failure, but identified weaknesses in board culture, understanding of roles, and governance practices.

The report, based on interviews and surveys of the board of Bord Bia, also found that the chair, Larry Murrin "is viewed as providing clear leadership, maintaining appropriate focus on governance and strategy".

Bord Bia

Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny described the review into Bord Bia as "flawed and of failing to address the issues that caused so much anger among farmers".

"The Department of Agriculture has spent €45,000 on a review of Bord Bia that ultimately failed to address the real concerns that farmers have with Bord Bia and with Larry Murrin remaining as chair of the organisation.

"Ultimately, we are still in the same position where farmers have no faith in Larry Murrin remaining as chairperson.

"It is worth noting that the review did find issues with the governance of the board, and put forward a list of 22 recommendations to deal with these issues.

"It is concerning to hear that not all members of the board are aware of what their roles and responsibilities are. One would think that this is the first thing that a member of any board should be made aware of.

"I would hope that all these recommendations are implemented as soon as possible," he said.

Deputy Kenny added that "the core issue of the farmers' dispute still remains and that is the position of chairperson Larry Murrin".

"Until he steps aside it will be very difficult to regain farmers' confidence in Bord Bia.

"There is still a lot of anger among farmers in relation to this issue and I believe that we need Bord Bia to have a strong board and to have the confidence of Irish farmers so that it can do the work it was set up to do and promote Irish agri-produce around the world.

"The best way to do this is with a new chairperson," he said.

Meetings

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has confirmed that he will meet with the IFA on the Bord Bia governance review today (Thursday, June 18).

Following the publication of the review, which was carried out by consultancy firm Governance Ireland, IFA president Francie Gorman said "there are number of very important recommendations in this review, which are a clear acknowledgment that significant change is needed".

"However, the report did not deal with a number of wider issues as they were deemed to be outside the scope of the governance review. This is acknowledged in the review itself," Gorman added.

The minister said last week that he wanted to develop an action plan to implement the recommendations of the report.