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Twelve days in, the Beef Plan protests at beef factories continue to escalate in number and scale.
By Wednesday evening, the protest had spread to 22 factories. Farmers are turning out in big numbers at plants, particularly in the evenings.
More than 200 farmers were present in Ballyhaunis nightly, with similar numbers attending protests in Bandon, Ballyjamesduff and Athleague.
‘Blockades’
Meat Industry Ireland (MII) has called on the Beef Plan Movement to “abandon its illegal blockades” as both sides accused the other of intimidation at the factory gates.
SIPTU expressed concern that there could be a “detrimental effect” on factory workers, just hours before the three biggest processors, ABP, Dawn Meats and Kepak, moved to lay off hundreds of workers.
Beef Plan co-chair Eamon Corley called on all farmers to support the protest, saying that “it’s now or never” for cattle farmers.
He called on MII and retail representatives to sit down with cattle farmers “without preconditions” to discuss pricing structure and restrictive conditions within it.
This week’s kill is predicted to be down by between 18,000 and 20,000 head, or up to 45%, as a result of the protests and the bank holiday. Last week’s kill was down by 6,000 head.
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