Farmers' Union Vote of No Confidence in Agriculture Department

The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) has extended a vote of no confidence in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) to include the Minister, the Permanent Secretary, and the Chief Vet, following a cull of 51 cattle in County Tyrone.

The cull was carried out in June, with the cows being shot in the presence of members of the public. The UFU has expressed concerns about the independence of a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) review into the incident.

Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir has stated that he will continue to engage with the UFU and has spoken with its president on Friday morning. He added that the situation he had inherited in the department was "extremely challenging", with issues building up "due to wrong government policy previously".

Muir described some of the speeches at a protest outside Stormont on Monday as "pure electioneering" and called on his fellow politicians to "calm it down". He also stated that a death threat had been made against him, and he received one in June.

The UFU has called for Daera's Permanent Secretary Katrina Godfrey and the Chief Veterinary Officer Brian Dooher to resign. In response, the senior civil servants' union the FDA said it was "entirely inappropriate" to call for the resignation of officials who were "duty-bound to serve ministers" and "could not defend themselves publicly".

The minister has previously said there was no reasonable alternative to the cattle being euthanised on site and has insisted it was a last resort as officials had to act on a court order. An external review of the cattle cull was announced by Daera earlier this month, but the UFU's Executive Committee met on Thursday night.

The UFU has consistently maintained that an investigation into an incident of this seriousness must be demonstrably independent, robust, and capable of commanding the confidence of farm families and the wider public.

A Daera spokesperson said they and the minister were aware of the decision. "An external independent review is already underway to review the action taken by Department officials in response to the Deprivation Order in Fivemiletown," they continued.

"There are many strategic issues and challenges for agriculture. It is vital we face up to those challenges together to restore our environment and ensure a sustainable future for agriculture".

Responding to the vote against the two named senior officials, the FDA union's Robert Murtagh said: "This kind of performative stunt, naming and targeting officials, does not aid understanding and undermines the need for constructive dialogue.

"The UFU's action appears also to be seeking to pre-empt and to influence the independent review already now in train. It should be awaiting its findings and recommendations before jumping to respond to voices who do not care about public service or indeed public servants."

## The Cull in Fivemiletown

Animal welfare inspections on the farm dating back to 2022 identified serious concerns, including 33 animal carcasses, feed contaminated with urine and faeces, and emaciated animals.

| Offence | Number of Charges | | --- | --- | | Failure to dispose of an animal carcass | 13 | | Failure to comply with an Animal By-Products notice | 1 | | Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal | 6 | | Failure to produce medicine records | 1 |

The farmer was found guilty of a number of animal welfare offences in May and disqualified from keeping animals for life.

The court issued a deprivation order on 8 June - that the farmer must have the animals removed from his ownership. As is practice, he was given two weeks to appeal the sentence, or to transfer, sell or give away his stock. He was then given an extra week.

On 29 June, when the extended grace period had lapsed, the departmental humane slaughter team arrived at the farm to begin destruction of the remaining 51 animals by shooting them.

The operation was completed on 30 June. Some members of the public witnessed the operation in one of the three areas across the farm that the animals were in.

Questions about how the operation was conducted were first raised by a local councillor, then concerns were expressed by politicians and farming leaders.

The AERA committee was recalled to discuss the incident, and quiz the minister and veterinary officials.

## The Review

Before the committee met, the minister announced that an independent external review, external would be conducted. It will be led by Dr Martin Blake, a former Chief Veterinary Officer for Ireland.

His work will include looking at the decision-making, risk assessments, and communication around the operation. He will make recommendations, based on his examination of the records and any interviews he carries out.

Muir said Dr Blake's review would be "thorough but not prolonged", and told the committee it would be complete "by early autumn". The UFU has called for the review to be conducted by a panel of experts, rather than an individual.