When the Irish delegation arrived in London for talks with the British Government, in June 1921, their hosts weren’t sure what to expect. It is generally held that the British underestimated the Irish. It’s true to say that the Beef Plan delegation at Monday’s talks surprised some. They were focused, prepared and tenacious.

Of all the meetings that took place last week, perhaps the most significant was on Saturday evening between the IFA and Beef Plan. Any previous mutual suspicion was set aside, and the groundwork was laid for farmers to present a united front. It’s a credit to all the seven – if one adds ICOS to ICSA, ICMSA, INHFA and Macra – farm organisations present that the pressure was squarely applied to MII’s side of the table.

Any discussion of price was forbidden, as this might be regarded as anti-competitive. The CCPC waded fearlessly on to the pitch last week, aiming its sights on farmers with an average income of under €10,000 rather than the multimillionaires they sell to.

Anyone who thinks the market is free is either blinkered by ideology or hopelessly naive. The problem for farmers is that all the advantage lies with the processors. There are 100,000 farmers selling to a handful of processors, three of whom control 90% of the kill. The factories are armed with all possible information about the amount of cattle by age, breed and location. They know farmers’ costs, margins and incomes. Farmers, in return, know only the global meat market information presented by Bord Bia. It isn’t a fair fight.

Balance

As to the Irish consumer, with 90% of our beef being exported, they are really tangential to this whole issue. Perhaps producer groups can provide some balance to the equation.

There is a deep irony that when this toxic “free-market” tone was set, the then chair of the Competitions Authority was one John Fingleton, from Laois.

His cousin Enda Fingleton was one of the Beef Plan negotiators. Another cousin, Colm Fingleton, was a founder member of the Irish Grain Growers, another farmer group.

One final note. The ICSA delegation comprised new president Edmond Phelan, livestock chair Edmund Graham and CEO Eddie Punch. I couldn’t help but think of the kids cartoon Ed, Edd, and Eddie.

Those men and those organisations strongly hold that the market manipulation is entirely at the farmers’ expense.