Supermarkets British beef focus hits Irish sales

03 March 1998

Supermarkets British beef focus hits Irish sales

FARMERS and slaughterers in Ireland claim to be losing sales on their biggest market, the British supermarket sector.

The pro-British position taken by the biggest supermarkets over beef has gone down in the Republic like a lead balloon, they say.

Irish agriculture minister Joe Walsh said retailers had not ruled out a
return to Irish beef when the Meat and Livestock Commissions current £2m pro-British promotion campaign ended.

The Irish press has said the supermarket boycott of Irish beef runs counter
to the principles of the European Union free market.