All protests at beef plants around the country have now been stood down. Farmers at the last remaining picket at the Liffey Meats plant in Ballinasloe voted to end their protests at around 9pm last night.
It followed a weekend where pickets were stood down all over the country. More than 20 pickets had been taking place at meat processing plants right across the country for a number of weeks — bringing the industry to a virtual standstill.
Pressure had been steadily mounting on protesting farmers last week. The Government had warned protesting beef farmers that the future of their industry was “hanging in the balance”, insisting they will cause “irreversible damage” to their families and livelihoods if they refused to end the pickets.
A spokesman for Agriculture Minister Michael Creed thanked the farmers for bringing the long-running dispute to an end.
“The minister extends his thanks to those who assisted in engaging with picket lines throughout the country over the past seven days in an effort to bring about a conclusion to the dispute,” said the spokesman.
“The establishment of the Beef Market Taskforce is now an immediate priority with view to implementing in full the Beef Industry Reform agreement.”
