FOLLOWING GREAT protests from farmers at both a local and national level, the biggest meat processor in Ireland, Larry Goodman’s ABP Food Group, has been given the green light by the European Commission to buy half of Slaney Foods.

Back in February, hundreds of farmers from all over the country gathered at the Clohamon plant to show their dissatisfaction with Goodman’s potential takeover of a 50% stake after the company was put up for sale by the Allen family. They stated that it would have a devastating impact on meat production in the country.

Now, however, the powers that be in Europe “cleared unconditionally” the takeover, which will see Goodman’s ABP Foods take 50% with Down-based agri-food company Fane Valley taking the other half.

The combined company will now own more than a quarter of the beef processing market in Ireland. The European Commission stated that the merger “would not raise competition concerns” in any of the three markets it could affect. It said that Irish farmers would still have the option to find alternative buyers for their livestock after the merger.

“Farmers in Ireland tend to sell within a rather broad geographic radius,” the report stated. “They are able to switch slaughterhouses if they can get better prices for their animals.”

The commission said there were “various slaughterhouses with space capacity” around the country that would continue to operate, including in the south-east areas where Slaney Foods’ slaughterhouse is located.

The commission also said that the sale of fresh meat would remain unaffected because a “number of strong competitors” would remain active after the merger.

IFA County Chairman Pat Murray said that farmers were left baffled and disappointed by the decision.

“I suppose the overall attitude is one of massive disappointment,” he said. “The Irish Competition Authority washed it’s hands of it and passed it onto Europe. Then we’ve done our part and put a huge amount of work into publishing a report on the matter, and they didn’t see any issue with the situation. It’s very disappointing.

“I don’t understand how they can’t see the issue with one major player having such control in the market,” Mr Murray continued. “I think, going forward, we need to really look at the Competition Authority and the way it operates.”

However, for farmers on the ground, such an examination will have little consequence as the decision regarding Slaney Foods has now been made and they are facing a market in which the competition has been “substantially lessened”.

Farmers protest the potential takeover of 50% of Slaney Foods by Larry Goodman’s ABP Foods at Clohamon earlier this year. Pic: Christy Farrell