The row between the Irish Farmers' Association and the beef factories deepened yesterday as cattle prices remained below an expected price of 80.7p per pound, sparking protest meetings outside factories across the State.
The main protest took place outside the head office of Ireland's largest meat processor, Mr Larry Goodman, in Ardee, Co Louth, where the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, accused the beef baron of not delivering on promises made in the previous week.
But this was denied in a statement from the company issued through its Dublin PR agency. It said the company, Allied Irish Beef Processing, was "annoyed that its position had been misrepresented".
The statement was issued as a two-hour meeting between Mr Parlon and his officials and Mr Gerry Thornton, one of Mr Goodman`s top officials in AIBP. Mr Goodman was in Paris on business.
The AIBP statement said that Mr Goodman had made it clear that as an individual company he undertook, on October 15th last, to hold the price of cattle in a falling market at last week's prices.
He had also undertaken to work with the Department and the beef industry to use the EU Intervention system to achieve a price of 82p per lb for R3 grade cattle over the coming weeks.
It added that Mr Goodman had also undertaken to pay the intervention price, under the new intervention arrangements, for the contract adjudicated on October 30th next and included in that price will be the processor's margin.
Following the meeting, Mr Parlon said there were differences of interpretation of what had been agreed at the meeting in the Department of Agriculture on this day last week. He still contended that the factories had not paid the 80.7p price which should have applied from Monday last.
But, he said, the company had committed itself to a maximum possible intervention tender and that "R" grade cattle (good quality animals) should make 82p per lb next week.
He said the only thing gained from the meeting with Goodman executives was that a maximum possible tender for 24,000 cattle will be submitted to Brussels on Tuesday.
The IFA also picketed Irish Country Meats, Kepak, Dawn and Galtee meat plants yesterday. It is hoping to bring 15,000 farmers to Dublin next Wednesday to protest at the farm income crisis and plans to march from Phoenix Park, down the quays at 11 a.m. for a lunch-time meeting at Government Buildings.
The Department of Agriculture announced last night that it had paid more than £202 million in direct aid to farmers through headage and premia schemes within the past week.