Members of the Beef Plan Movement marched in protest against the prices paid for beef in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, on Thursday evening, ahead of the Irish Farmers Journal Beef Summit.

The group marched through the town behind a horse and cart loaded with a coffin carrying the words "RIP Irish Beef Farmer".

They proceeded into the Shearwater Hotel and placed the coffin, which chair Eamon Corley said symbolised the demise of rural Ireland, on the stage of the Beef Summit.

Price

Michael Rafferty, chair of the Beef Plan Movement in Monaghan, said the group is working hard to establish the facts in the beef sector.

“We have been listening to messages from leaders in the agriculture sector that our beef does not command the same price on UK retail sales. Based on work that the Beef Plan has done on the ground in the UK, the prime cuts of beef from Ireland are commanding the same price as British Red Tractor beef.”

He stated that the messages farmers had been getting from industry leaders would be challenged as Beef Plan did not believe what it was being told.

Fair price

Waterford suckler farmer Sean Harris, who joined the group as they marched, said that beef farmers need a fair price for what they do.

“The minister has to look at what the beef farmer is getting and that they can’t sustain a family on little or no income. We’re going have to change how we do our business and sell our produce. We don’t have an income - it's survival," he said.

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