Beef Tribunal - Saga comes to end after 14 years

AFTER 14 years, the saga surrounding the unhealthy relationship between the organisation run by beef baron Larry Goodman and the Irish Government is finally over.

As the dominant player in the beef market, Mr Goodman was given an advantage over all other producers when the Haughey Government gave export credit insurance on the company’s sales of beef to Iraq.

After this was cancelled by former Minister for Industry and Commerce Des O’Malley, an action later contributing to the collapse of the Reynolds Government, a €100 million case was taken against the State by Goodman Holdings. In hindsight, Mr O’Malley has been resoundingly vindicated.

Yet there remains a bitter irony in the fact that the only person who faced jail as a result of the tribunal investigation into the beef industry and the activities of the Goodman group, was Susan O’Keeffe, the journalist who blew the whistle.

Hopefully, since the State has withdrawn a related action against the Goodman organisation, the taxpayer will not have to pick up the legal costs. That would be a travesty.