Beef farmers are set to step up their campaign against beef factories unless the prices farmers receive for their cattle increase over the coming days.
The executive council of the Irish Farmers' Association gave the go-ahead for a further escalation of action, despite entering a period of negotiations with the factories after an agreement at the Beef Forum last Wednesday.
Farmer protests outside every meat factory across Ireland brought work to a standstill last week and cost the beef industry between €10m and €15m in lost business.
The blockade was to highlight a large gap that has opened up between factory prices paid for cattle in Britain and Ireland.
On Wednesday, a two-week period of intensive talks on beef specifications between factories and farmers was agreed at the Beef Forum chaired by Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.
However, farmers are angry that a week has passed since their protest but that no movement on beef prices has occurred.
An emergency meeting took place at IFA headquarters last night, where it was decided to sanction further action, starting next week if beef prices have not increased in the meantime.
The IFA has not yet specified what action it will take, but another nationwide blockade of meat factories could be considered.
Mr Coveney said the opening up of the US and Chinese markets to Irish beef exporters will be the "shot in the arm" the industry needs.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland from China, Mr Coveney described as a very positive development the fact that a Chinese veterinary inspection team has been confirmed as coming to inspect Irish beef factories before Christmas, which he said was effectively the last stage before approval is given to export beef.
The Department of Agriculture had been working for two years to get the market re-opened, and Mr Coveney described today's announcement of the visit by the inspection team as "a huge step forward".
Mr Coveney said that following a similar inspection by a US veterinary team in the summer, he expected that Ireland would be selling beef into the US for the first time in 16 years, before the end of the year.
"If we can get both the US market open and the Chinese market open, they'll be two huge beef markets for Ireland to sell premium product into at a premium prices... [We've spoken] about the frustration that Irish beef farmers have in terms of beef prices for the past 12 months.
"Both of these markets could certainly give the beef industry the shot in the arm it's been looking for," he said.
