Poultry Farmers Protest at Restaurant of Bord Bia Chair Over Sourcing Policy 

IFA Poultry Chair Brendan Soden said the sourcing policy of restaurants owned by the Chair of Bord Bia is making a mockery of Bord Bia and their Quality Assurance Schemes.

He was speaking at a protest of poultry farmers outside the Sole restaurant in Dublin today. Despite being co-owned by the Chair of Bord Bia Larry Murrin, the restaurant was using foreign chicken instead of Bord Bia approved Irish chicken when visited by a restaurant reviewer recently.

The protesting poultry growers supply Manor Farm and they are questioning why Mr Murrin was using chicken from overseas instead of their Bord Bia approved Irish chicken.

The tag line of the Sole restaurant is a ‘Taste of Ireland in the heart of Dublin’ yet a recent review of the restaurant by Irish Times food reviewer Corinna Hardgrave questioned the consistency of their food sourcing policy with their claimed ‘food philosophy’.

Sole claims its ‘food philosophy is one honouring sea food sustainability and local Irish producers’, yet they used Bangladeshi prawns as well as Dutch and Polish chicken. The review concludes that ‘Sole’s sourcing does not always match its claims’.

“What was going on in this restaurant is not right. Claiming one thing and doing another. What makes it far worse is that the restaurant is co-owned by the Chair of Ireland’s food board,” he said.

“Having Larry Murrin continuing as Chair of Bord Bia is damaging the credibility of Bord Bia,” he said.

“The diners in this restaurant deserve to know the truth and that is why we are here today,” he said.