The president of Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) has said his organisation's demand for the resignation of Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir is "not personal". The UFU called on the Alliance politician to quit on Friday over his department's handling of a controversial cull of 51 cattle in Fivemiletown in County Tyrone. Alliance has claimed the UFU's call was not motivated by animal welfare concerns, but by its opposition to Muir because he stands up to its "vested interest" in agriculture.
UFU President John McLenaghan insisted the dispute was "not about personalities" adding that Muir's decision to appoint a single person to conduct a review into the cattle cull was the "straw that broke the camel's back". The UFU wanted an independent panel of experts to examine the circumstances of the cull which took place on a Fivemiletown farm on 29 and 30 June. The cattle's owner had been disqualified from keeping animals for life after being found guilty of a number of animal welfare offences in May.
When a court order to rid him of ownership of the cattle was not compiled with, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) stepped in. The animals were shot and killed by Daera's humane slaughter team, but some of the shootings took place within earshot of members of the public, causing distress. The UFU expressed shock over the cull asking "whether every possible alternative was properly considered", external before the cattle were killed.
Muir has previously insisted that Daera had "no choice" but to cull the animals. On Friday, the minister hit back at those calling for him to quit, saying "the days of the Ulster Farmers' Union dictating government policy are over". He added that he was "arguably the first minister in the history of this state that is not beholden to one vested interest".
Muir also said, external the operation was not "authorised nor directed by me" but he as "the responsible minister... ordered an external independent review because the public deserves clear answers". The UFU president rejected the claimed that the union was trying to dictate Daera policies. "This organisation has 120 years of history", McLenaghan told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
"It has worked with every government there has been, every competent authority there has been - whether it's Westminster or Stormont. "Any political party that has held the ministry, we've worked with them to help them, to help our farmers, to help our industry. "To describe that as dictating is not only unfair on the Ulster Farmers' Union, it's also actually somewhat disingenuous." McLenaghan pointed out that the UFU is often invited to work with Daera on "co-design" projects because of staffing and resources issues within the department.
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