The joint chairmen of the Beef Plan Movement, Eamon Corley and Hugh Doyle, have issued a response to statements from the organisation’s “stood down” national committee over the weekend, hitting back at what they describe as “disappointing and unjustifiable criticisms”.
Also Read: EGM called by ‘stood down’ Beef Plan National Committee (updated)In a statement to AgriLand, the chairmen said: “[We] wish to advise the national membership that from the outset of our campaign, it was always our desire to create an organisation that represented farmers in an open, transparent and democratic manner.”
Citing that the organisation’s rules of governance were “painstakingly drafted and agreed upon and signed by all the directors of Beef Plan Movement CLG”, the chairs added:
“These rules create a pathway for the organisation to represent the views of all grassroots members equally and for the Beef Plan Movement to grow and develop where the leadership is accountable to the grassroots members and their actions are fully transparent.
The rules of governance state that county AGMs [Annual General Meetings] must be completed by Wednesday, January 15, 2020.
“The completion of the county AGMs will allow for the formation of the first democratically elected National Committee under the rules of governance of the Beef Plan Movement,” the chairs’ statement said.
Continuing, it was noted that this National Committee has been “entrusted with all powers necessary to form national policies and power to decide the future direction” of the organisation.
The statement added:
Every paid up member of the Beef Plan Movement has [an] equal opportunity to become a member of that National Committee and we invite all members in each county to get involved to build upon and promote the great work achieved to date.
Criticising the “stood down” committee, which met over the weekend and called an EGM following a motion of no confidence in Doyle and Corley, the chairs said:
“It is with regret and it is disappointing and unfortunate that some disgruntled members of the stood down temporary national committees persist in calling unofficial meetings to disrupt the current election process.
‘Temporary measure’
“We acknowledge that it appears drastic to stand down these voluntary committees and it was unfortunate that we had to do so, but we feel it was completely necessary in order to ensure that there is no circulation of improper information at this critical time in the development of the Beef Plan Movement.
In any event this is a very temporary measure. When the county AGMs are complete on January 15 next, the new National Committee will be in position to meet to restore the business of the organisation.
Doyle and Corley described the events of recent days as an “unfortunate and unnecessary distraction from the proper business of the Beef Plan Movement”, adding that the group’s resources “must be reapplied to proper representation for farmers”.
“We acknowledge the great work of all participating members of any Beef Plan Movement committee to date and we hope that the organisation can strengthen and build upon such good work in the coming year.
“We look forward to working with each new county committee in the coming weeks.”