In the weeks before Tipperary Co-op and Arrabawn said they were in exclusive talks on a potential tie-up, Tirlán wrote to the board of Tipperary to put an offer on the table.

Tirlán offered to top-up the milk cheque for Tipperary suppliers to the Tirlán payment level for the previous four years. This deal would have been worth up to €250/cow to those suppliers. While talks failed to progress, the likely outcome would have been that Tipperary would have become a corporate member of Tirlán, not unlike Centenary Thurles, where the co-op supplies milk, while having little processing capacity of its own.

This necessarily would mean the closure of the facility in Tipperary town.

Talks between Tipperary Co-op and Arrabawn are continuing meanwhile, with representatives meeting this week and a proposal is expected in the coming weeks.