Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant

Farmers have demanded Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin resign after it emerged that a popular Dublin restaurant he part-owns serves chicken from the Netherlands and Poland.The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) held a protest outside Sole Seafood & Grill on Drury Street, Dublin, on Friday, a week after a review in The Irish Times revealed the restaurant does not serve Irish or free-range chicken.The protest primarily consisted of poultry farmers from counties Monaghan, Cavan and Louth, many of whom said they found out about the situation via media coverage last week.Several farmers called on Murrin to resign as Bord Bia chair, saying his position has become untenable. READ MOREBord Bia is a State-funded body promoting Irish produce. Its website speaks of “world-class” Irish food and drink that is “high quality, distinctive and made by a diverse range of creative producers from a unique and fortuitous island location”.Speaking at the protest, IFA poultry chair Brendan Soden said the situation was “making a mockery of Bord Bia” and “damaging the credibility” of the State agency.In a statement, Bord Bia said it did not comment “on the private business interests of individual board members, including the chair”.Patrick McCormick, IFA national treasurer and a poultry farmer from Co Monaghan, said farmers were “very shocked” and “angry”.“We feel that it’s an insult to us, particularly when we see all the advertising that Bord Bia run. We’re really supportive of Bord Bia, and we’re so annoyed that Bord Bia are trying to promote the use of Irish quality-assured products, and that the chairman of Bord Bia is not loyal to the brand,” he said.McCormick said “every privately owned restaurant is entitled to serve whatever food they like and run their business as they see fit”, but it was hypocritical for a business part-owned by the chair of Bord Bia not to serve Irish chicken.Murrin, who is also the chief executive and founder of the Dawn Farms food group, has previously been criticised as a result of that company’s importation of beef from Brazil.The IFA and Sinn Féin were among those who called for him to step down as Bord Bia chairman at the time. A group of farmers occupied the food board’s lobby for four weeks in protest.McCormick said he thought Murrin’s position was untenable when the Brazilian beef story broke in January and was even more so now. “I would like to see Larry Murrin resigning as chairman of Bord Bia,” he said.Kevin Sweeney, chairman of Louth IFA, said farmers “understand the good that Bord Bia does to promote our food, but when the chairman of Bord Bia is not promoting our food in his own restaurant, it does make us scratch our own head, wondering what’s going on”.Sweeney, a poultry and dairy farmer, said it was “beyond thinking” that Murrin did not serve Irish chicken the restaurant. He said if Sole agreed to serve Irish poultry then that would “be a start”, but not enough to save Murrin’s position at Bord Bia. He said farmers were “very disappointed” by the latest development and the beef controversy.Sole is part of the EHL group owned by Murrin and Padraic O’Kane. Murrin and EHL were contacted for comment. A review of the governance of Bord Bia, commenced after the Brazilian beef controversy, found that Murrin was viewed as providing “clear leadership” at the State agency.Dawn Farms previously said Brazilian beef accounted for less than 1 per cent of its supply.“Dawn Farms is a leading exporter of added-value cooked protein, working with international and local customers in over 50 markets,” a statement said earlier this year.“Irish beef makes up the majority of our supply and, together with the UK and other EU countries, accounted for over 99 per cent of our annual supply in 2025.”