Where to start in what has been such a busy week? Trying to find a moment that might untangle the horrendous mess that is the beef sector isn’t easy. Perhaps a good starting point would be the words of Joe Healy at the Young Farmer of the Year Awards on Tuesday.

Healy recognised that the nominees, as well as farming hard, were involved in Macra and also typically in their communities.

I’m not saying what organisation to join, but join and then become an active member

He urged them to become involved in farm organisations, to have a say in their own industry.

The IFA president then acknowledged Pat McCormack, the ICMSA president, who was also present. “I’m not saying what organisation to join, but join and then become an active member,” he said. It was a moment of ecumenism in the fractious field of farm politics, and welcome.

Tractors were lined up from the mouth of Kildare St, which was heavily barricaded, back past the Shelbourne Hotel and along Merrion Square

Meanwhile, down on St Stephen’s Green, farmers were settling in for the long haul. They had come to Dublin to make their voice heard. The chorus of discontent is proving to be an orchestra without a conductor.

Tractors were lined up from the mouth of Kildare St, which was heavily barricaded, back past the Shelbourne Hotel and along Merrion Square.

Putting a protest together requires co-ordination and organisation, but it requires an entirely different level of organisation to agree what it will take to end the protest.

To their credit, the ad-hoc leadership did end the protest on Wednesday afternoon, but at times it seemed as if no one was in charge, meaning everyone was in charge. That led to concern that a small rump could prolong the protest far past its useful lifespan.

Hugh Doyle and Eamon Corley, the founders and co-chairs of the Beef Plan, were both there, although never in close proximity, resembling a separated couple at a family wedding.

I hear a few of the protesters headed down to Copper Face Jacks on Tuesday

There were people handing out leaflets holding that the Independent Farmers of Ireland had held an EGM last Friday in Tullamore and voted new leadership in.

The existing leadership, which itself supplanted the original spokespersons in September, says that meeting wasn’t valid. I hear a few of the protesters headed down to Copper Face Jacks on Tuesday, where they were granted free entry and a complimentary drink. The gardaí were patient and good-humoured throughout. If the injunctions can’t be lifted, that patience may be tested again next month.