Farmers block food distribution centre as protest enters second day

Farmers protest outside Musgrave distribution centre in Kilcock, Co. Kildare

Farmers protesting outside the Musgrave Group distribution centre in Kilcock, Co. Kildare, have said they will not rule out escalating their action to include several other food distribution centres.

The group hopes that by disrupting the food supply chain it will get the attention of Government ministers.

Around 200 people and over 100 vehicles attended the protest, which has now entered its second day, led by the Individual Farmers of Ireland.

The group has organised demonstrations over beef prices in 2019 and 2020.

A spokesman for the group said members had sent a list of their demands to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue.

One of the main demands made is for Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe to resign, as a result of the letter he wrote to banks in relation to young farmers and lending practices.

“What he did with that letter to the banks would just close down agriculture,” the spokesman said.

“There is no future for young farmers. People don’t understand how serious that letter was.”

The group is also concerned that there will be a cut to food production in this country as a result of climate policy when Ireland is “in the best position in the world to produce food if we’re let produce food”.

“The world population is rising, extra food is needed.

“But the profitability has to rise," he said.

A target by the government to reduce the average slaughter age of cattle from 27 to 24 months is also of great concern for the group.

The spokesman said that if the 24-month rule was enforced, the “even flow” of supply of cattle throughout the year would be gone.

“The government are not listening,” the spokesman continued.

“Are we going to have to wait here until we have no farmers because when you have no farmers actually doing the work, you can’t reverse that, you can’t put up an ad saying you want 100 farmers next week - they’re not there,” he said.

“Screw the farmer, we don’t need him. But they’re forgetting one thing - they need a farmer three times a day.

“People are starting to wake up to the seriousness of this.”

Despite blocking deliveries and lorries leaving the Musgrave Group distribution centre, entry and exit points for staff are accessible, with the road open for traffic.

The group spokesman said that there is a “fair chance of an escalation”, as farmers “have to fight on” and would not "go home without progress”.

“Until somebody comes with some sort of progress, some sort of negotiating, we can’t go home,” the spokesman said.

“We came to do a job: we came to try and wake up the government and try and save farming, because farming is in an awful lot worse a situation than the majority of people realise.”

And that situation will only worsen if certain policies are implemented, according to the spokesman.

“If we can get more people together, we’ll try to go to another distribution centre because maybe one isn’t enough to get the government to listen...maybe if it’s two, three, four, five of them blocked and no food on the shop selves by Wednesday, then they might listen.”

Musgrave has said that the blockade at its distribution centre in Kilcock "continues to impact the distribution of local and Irish products to retailers in communities across the country". 

"This is the busiest trading period of the year for our retailers and suppliers. Our Irish suppliers rely on this crucial trading time in the run up to Christmas to sustain their businesses throughout the year. 

"The further delay of any resolution will have a detrimental long term impact on Irish food producers," a spokesperson for Musgrave said.

"Musgrave has a long-standing history and commitment of supporting Irish farmers. We are hopeful that this dispute between the protestors and Government is resolved quickly to minimise any further impact on our suppliers and customers.

Meanwhile, there has also been disruption to traffic in Dublin today, where an unrelated 24-hour protest led by the Irish Truckers and Haulage Association Against Fuel Prices has blocked the entrance to Dublin Port.