Diners have been told there will be no Irish beef on the menu within weeks if the beef crisis isn’t settled.
The warning came from restaurants as a picket was removed from a beef plant owned by Dawn Meats in Slane Co Meath.
That may be the first sign that the deal, hammered out after 40 hours of talks last week-end, may for the basis of a settlement.
But more than a dozen plants were still blockaded with some picketers publicly defiant they will lock factories down until Christmas.
The warning on supplies of Irish beef for autumn weddings, Christmas parties and other large gatherings came from Adrian Cummins of the Restaurant Association of Ireland.
He said: “About 50% of restaurants from next week won’t have a supply of beef on their menu.”
The decision to stand down the blockade of the Dawn Meats plant in Slane was taken by the Independent Farmers of Ireland.
They said they hoped it would be the first step in ratifying the peace deal reached last week-end.
The grouping added that while the peace deal did not provide all the answers, it was a first step toward reform of the beef industry.
Separately An Bord Bia Chief Executive Tara McCarthy said the crisis was damaging Irish beef internationally.
She confirmed that planned visits by international buyers had been cancelled or postponed as a result of the blockades.
The IFA’s national livestock chairman Angus Woods said there were a number of farmers in severe financial difficulty who urgently need to move stock.
He said many were going deep into their bank overdrafts to keep going.
He said the price of cattle is under pressure across Europe and farmers need to move stock and get the system back up.
The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation has echoed the RAI’s call to end the blockades.
Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships in Co Carlow, Heather Humphreys said those still protesting need to look at the deal again. She added that there is a real risk of contracts being lost.
