A deal agreed between Fianna Fáil TD Mr John Ellis and the IFA leadership to repay money to farmers owed large sums of money after his meat company collapsed in 1986 may be rejected by most of the farmers involved.
Mr John Finnegan, one of four people elected to a committee by the farmers to represent them, said he had been in contact with more than half of the 80 creditors over the past week and none of them wanted to accept the money being offered by Mr Ellis.
"They are saying it is a deal worth nothing. People are gone so angry now and to get a third or a quarter of your money after 15 years is not a payment at all," Mr Finnegan said. "The reaction of farmers is that we are being sold down the drain."
Another creditor of Stanlow Trading Ltd, Mr Joe Walsh of Knockmore, Co Mayo, said most farmers felt they would not "give him back his credibility" by accepting a small payment at this stage. He said most people were disappointed the IFA leadership had settled for such a low amount in reaching a deal with Mr Ellis.
Mr Finnegan said the farmers were also critical of the failure of the IFA leadership to put the deal to a full meeting of the creditors.
He and other farmers had never got to meet Mr Ellis though he had been asked to attend a meeting in Mullingar in April 2000 where the IFA leadership met him.
"Nobody has come back to us since and we always hear about this through the newspapers or television," Mr Finnegan said.
It was reported this week that Mr Ellis was about to pay over €150,000 (£120,000) to the IFA, a sum agreed in November 2000.
At the time of the collapse of Stanlow Trading Ltd in 1986, £300,000 was owed to about 80 farmers in amounts ranging from £200 to £21,000.
The Sligo-Leitrim TD and his brothers Caillian and Richard were the three directors of the Donegal-based company. The offer was a joint one from John and Caillian, a member of Leitrim County Council. Mr Richard Ellis, who lives in the Isle of Man, has refused to make any contribution.
It was established in the courts that the Ellis brothers were not personally liable for the debts of Stanlow Trading. However, after it emerged that John Ellis had a £263,000 debt at National Irish Bank written off for a payment of £20,000, a campaign started in 1999 to try to secure payment for the farmers.
Further pressure was put on Mr Ellis after it emerged that practically all of the creditors in his Sligo-Leitrim constituency were paid.
This week, another one of the creditors, who did not want to be named, said people were angry with the obvious wealth enjoyed by Mr Ellis in the years since. "He has built a big house, he bought more land and machinery," she said.
The general feeling was that Mr Ellis would be "let off the hook" if money was accepted now. "Many people were in hard circumstances at the time. When they needed the money, they couldn't get it and now they can manage without it," she said.