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Inishowen pig farmers face
meltdown 09.12.08
Shops withdraw pork
products following weekend order
By Liam Porter, Inishowen
Independent
A CLONMANY-based pig
farmer has said pig farmers will be facing meltdown
within weeks unless steps are taken immediately to
ensure the market gets moving again quickly.
Charlie Doherty’s comments came following
confirmation at the weekend that all Irish pork
products were being recalled after a toxin was found
in pig food.
Speaking to the Inishowen Independent Mr. Doherty
who with his brother Martin keeps 1,000 pigs on
their farm in Clonmany, admitted that if the market
does not get moving again pig producers would be
facing serious difficulties.
“The whole thing moves in a certain way, we have
around 60 pigs born every week and we’d sell around
60 pigs a week to make space for them. But if we
can’t sell on our pigs it will only take a short
while before we have a serious backlog.” |
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Not alone will that
mean producers have to find space for extra pigs on
their farm, they will also have to absorb the costs
of extra feedstuffs to feed them.
“Within two weeks the whole industry will be in
crisis unless urgent steps are taken to get the
markets moving again. |
Until that happens
there will be a huge backlog that will leave farmers
wondering what they are going to do with all these
pigs.”
Mr. Doherty who said he believed the Irish housewife
would be quick enough to regain confidence in the
pork industry, said he was not as sure if the same
could be said of the export market.
“All of a sudden the people we export to have no
confidence in our product and we need to do all we
can to address that as quickly as we can. Producers
really depend on the export market and we need the
government to do everything necessary to ensure that
the factories do not collapse because if they
collapse then producers will be left with pigs and
nowhere to sell them.”
The local farmer added that a collapse in the
industry would have devastating knock-on effects
that could see producers, hauliers, millers and
factory workers all out of work.
“In Belgium a few years ago there was a similar
problem and it cost around €1 billion, people in the
industry here are wondering who is going to pick up
the tab? Somebody is going to have to because if the
factories are left to take the hit and they don’t
manage to survive that the whole industry could go
into meltdown.”
As shops across the peninsula removed all pork
products from the shelves yesterday HSE officials
were understood to have visited a number of premises
to ensure that shops were complying with the order.
However at least one local shop will be able to
supply fresh Irish pork to its customers the
Inishowen Independent learned yesterday.
Dominic O’Donnell of O’Donnell’s Premier Meats in
Ardaravan Square, Buncrana, confirmed that he has
been given a green light from the Food Safety
Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to sell fresh Irish
pork.
“I have a written guarantee from my supplier that
none of their pigs were fed from the contaminated
sources and following that the FSAI have given me
the go-ahead to sell my products,” he confirmed
yesterday evening. |
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