A scuffle has broken out between beef farmers and the boss of Meat Industry Ireland outside the Department of Agriculture in Dublin.
The angry scenes came ahead of the first meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce.
The group was set up following the dispute which led to blockades at dozens of meat factories.
However talks never got underway because farmers stopped MII's representatives getting into the building.
They say the taskforce shouldn't meet until all legal threats against farmers are lifted.
A scuffle has broken out between farmers and Meat Industry Ireland’s Cormac Healy outside the Department of Agriculture
The farmers don’t want a meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce to go ahead until all legal threats are lifted pic.twitter.com/ZfZVjHI3ew
— Stephen Murphy (@Stephen_Murphy5) October 14, 2019
The talks have now been suspended.
Agriculture Minister Michael Creed says "It is in the interests of everyone involved in the beef industry that the work of the Taskforce goes ahead.
The Taskforce’s remit is to monitor the implementation of the actions arising from the agreement reached on 15 September and offers the most viable platform for strategic engagement with key stakeholders.
It was a great pity that farm representatives were not in a position to air the legitimate concerns of farmers at the Taskforce."
