UFU demands Muir and DAERA chiefs resign as Fivemiletown crisis escalates

Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir

The Ulster Farmers’ Union has declared that Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir and DAERA’s two most senior officials have lost the confidence of farmers—and demanded all three resign immediately.

In a major escalation of the fallout from the Fivemiletown cattle operation, Northern Ireland’s largest farming organisation extended its vote of no confidence beyond the Department to Mr Muir, Permanent Secretary Katrina Godfrey and Chief Veterinary Officer Brian Dooher.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the UFU Executive. Its blunt conclusion was that it no longer trusts the Department’s leadership or believes DAERA can deliver a sufficiently independent investigation into its own actions.

UFU rejects review commissioned by DAERA

At the heart of the confrontation is the Department’s review of the operation during which 51 cattle were euthanised following a court-issued Deprivation Order.

Former Irish Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Martin Blake has been appointed as the sole reviewer. His remit includes examining legal compliance, departmental procedures, standards of public administration and lessons arising from the operation.

But the UFU said the process, as presently constituted, cannot command the confidence of farming families or the wider public.

It raised serious concerns about the scope of the terms of reference, the appointment of one reviewer instead of a specialist panel and whether the investigation will be able to pursue evidence wherever it leads.

The union’s intervention goes substantially further than its earlier request for additional independent panel members. It is now directly challenging the fitness of the Minister and DAERA’s senior leadership to remain in office.

‘We no longer have confidence that the Department can deliver’

UFU president John McLenaghan said:

“This is not a decision the UFU has taken lightly. However, confidence has been severely damaged and the most recent event is just one of many instances where farmers feel that the Department has lost touch with farmers.

“Serious concerns have been raised regarding the independence of the review, its Terms of Reference and lack of specialist panel appointed. In the view of our Union, the process as it currently stands does not provide the level of independence and confidence that farmers deserve.”

Mr McLenaghan said independence must be demonstrated through the design and powers of the investigation—not merely asserted by the Department responsible for commissioning it.

He added:

“Independence cannot just be simply stated, it must be evident in how a review is established, who conducts it, what they are empowered to investigate and whether they are able to follow the evidence wherever it leads.”

Delivering the union’s starkest assessment of the breakdown in relations with DAERA, Mr McLenaghan concluded:

“The UFU’s position is clear. We no longer have confidence that the Department can deliver.”

The UFU said it would continue pressing for an independent, transparent and public review of the Fivemiletown operation.

Allister: DAERA cannot ‘mark its own homework’

TUV leader and North Antrim MP Jim Allister said the UFU’s decision exposed “the depth of the crisis engulfing the Department”.

Mr Allister said:

“The farming community has reached the same inescapable conclusion which I expressed earlier this week: a desktop review, operating under terms of reference written by the Department and without power to compel witnesses or demand documents, cannot command public confidence.

“Independence is not secured merely by appointing an outsider to conduct a process which DAERA itself has designed and confined. The Department cannot be permitted to mark its own homework over an operation for which it was responsible.”

He said the call for all three resignations could not simply be dismissed or endured until the controversy subsided.

Mr Allister added:

“The UFU’s call for the immediate resignations of the Minister, Permanent Secretary and Chief Veterinary Officer underscores how serious this situation is for the Department. It cannot simply be dismissed or ridden out by Andrew Muir.

“Andrew Muir should stop portraying himself as the victim, face up to the consequences of his Department’s actions at Fivemiletown and resign.”

The controversy has now moved beyond criticism of one operation or disagreement over the format of a review.

The UFU has issued a direct challenge to the authority of DAERA’s political and administrative leadership, leaving Mr Muir under mounting pressure to strengthen the investigation—or explain how he intends to govern agricultural policy without the confidence of Northern Ireland’s principal farming organisation.