The Irish Farmers Association has said that picketing of meat plants in the Republic will continue this morning, despite the temporary injunction obtained last night by the Irish Meat Association against the IFA, its president, Mr Tom Parlon, and Mr Raymond O'Malley.
The High Court order against picketing any of the association's plants in the Republic remains in force until a full hearing on Friday.
The dispute between the meat factories and the farmers deepened yesterday with the closure of all the meat factories in the State and protective notice served on factory workers. An IFA spokesman said late last night that the pickets would not be lifted until agreement was reached.
Mr Parlon warned that sending farmers to prison would be met with "total resistance" by the farming community. Describing the mood of farmers as being "firm and absolute", Mr Parlon said that the beef processing industry had been brought to a standstill and would remain closed down until the IFA's demands were negotiated upon.
The organisation filed papers yesterday with the Director of the Competition Authority alleging the new meat inspection charge imposed by the factories was illegal and breached the competition legislation because it was imposed by a cartel.
He said that course had been taken because the authority could force the meat plants to remove a levy which had been imposed uniformly by them, despite the fact the inspection costs varied from plant to plant depending on factory efficiency.
Yesterday morning, the Irish Meat Association, which represents the factories, met the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, to intervene and initiate meaningful negotiations with processors and farmers to modernise the inspection service, reduce its cost and bring about the lifting of the IFA's illegal blockade.
A statement issued after the meeting said it regretted that due to the blockade factories were being forced to close and lay off staff. "Such action will not resolve issues surrounding the Department of Agriculture's meat inspection charges, their level or structure, but it does put at risk the credibility and security of Ireland's meat industry at producer and processor level and the position of Irish meat in the markets on which it depends," it said.
"Any disruption of supply to markets will damage the national drive to re-build markets for Irish beef in the UK and elsewhere in Europe in the aftermath of the BSE crisis and will adversely affect all those whose livelihoods depend on the sector," the statement continued.
Mr Jack O'Connor, the SIPTU midlands and south-east region chief, criticised both the factories and the farmers for jeopardising the security of employment of low-paid workers.
"The current row is between the Government, the meat processors and the farmers, all of whom continue to enjoy secure incomes despite their differences while ordinary workers are currently being served with protective notice," said Mr O'Connor.
He called on farmers to allow supplies of raw materials and workers into plants and said if any trade union was to carry on like the farmers were doing, they would be subject to the full rigours of the law.
The conflict has been caused by the imposition of additional meat inspection fees by the Department of Agriculture and Food on January 1st in an effort to recover the full cost of the inspection.
Until now the taxpayer had been bearing the £9.7 million shortfall in the cost of the service. Levies from the meat plants and farmers amounted to only £14.1 million.