As of Thurday, 11th June 2026
Dear Member,
It is now over three months since it was agreed that there would be a Governance Review of Bord Bia. It was also agreed that the Chair of Bord Bia Larry Murrin would step aside from chairing board meetings until the review was complete.
Before the review commenced, IFA made several suggestions to the Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon. We said there should be a full public consultation process. We also proposed that the review should be overseen by a three-person steering committee which should include people with credibility in the farming community.
We sought a meeting with the Minister to discuss these issues. The meeting was not granted, and he moved to select an organisation called Governance Ireland to carry out the review. Under the Terms of Reference, only members of the Board of Bord Bia and the Senior Leadership in Bord Bia were interviewed.
IFA Submission
As a Board member of Bord Bia, I had the opportunity to make a submission to the review. I met Patrick Downes of Governance Ireland on Mon, 18th May in their offices in Dublin. At that meeting, I presented a detailed submission on various governance matters.
The members of the Board of Bord Bia have now been invited to a briefing in the Department of Agriculture on Friday afternoon (12th June).
Origin Green
Bord Bia proudly point out that Origin Green is ‘powered by partnership’. That partnership has been shattered by the actions of the Bord Bia Chair Larry Murrin and those who have supported him.
The Presidents of the IFA and the ICMSA expressed no confidence in him at the Bord Bia board meeting on Thursday, 22nd January. Furthermore, a majority of members of Bord Bia’s Meat and Livestock subsidiary Board expressed no confidence in the Bord Bia Chair at its most recent meeting on Tuesday, 5th May.
Yet Larry Murrin remains in place. Minister Heydon, Larry Murrin and the wider processing sector now have a decision to make. Do they put the preservation of the Chair’s position ahead of Bord Bia, Origin Green and decades of partnership between farmers, Bord Bia and the food processing sector?
Farmers will not support Bord Bia when Larry Murrin is the Chair.
Brazilian Beef Ban
Since the review commenced, the EU Commission has announced that it will stop all Brazilian beef imports this September due to concerns about the use of antibiotics in their meat. Yet the Chair told the Dáil that his ‘QA people’ are happy to use Brazilian beef and Dawn Farm Foods remains in Origin Green.
There needs to be a full review of Origin Green involving all stakeholders to ensure that Origin Green is robust, transparent and fair.
We await the outcome of the Governance Review and to see what actions the Chair of Bord Bia or the Minister might take once it is complete.
There have been suggestions from many farmers that I should resign off the Board of Bord Bia in protest at what has gone on. At this point, I do not believe that this would be in the best interests of farmers or in the best interests of Bord Bia as it will not help to restore farmer confidence.
I am very conscious of the depth of feeling among farmers on this issue. We will update members again once we have considered the content of the review.
