The board of Ornua met on Tuesday to discuss the proposal put forward by Dairygold to restructure Ornua, the owner of the Kerrygold brand, into a plc and spin out €500m to farmers and co-ops.

A special general meeting (SGM) of the board, which was expected to take place next month, will not happen as many board members believed other options need to be considered.

A document seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, which was circulated to the IFA dairy committee, advises that the restructuring should consider adding the CEO and chief financial officer to the board and that farmers should be cautious of the unlisted plc format.

It is now almost a year since the issues around the board table came to a head.

The board has been described as “dysfunctional” since then as certain members step out for significant portions of board meetings due to potential areas of conflict.

An internal review – led by Denis Cregan, now chair – recommended that board members with competing business should remove themselves from the board.

It is understood that the senior management team has been tasked with progressing the discussions and to develop options for discussion at board level.