‘Dairy takes babies from their mothers’: Vegans and farmers turn on Translink over advertising row

Translink has found itself in the middle of a freedom of speech row after coming under fire from two directions over vegan anti-farming adverts on its buses.
The same adverts were also used on London busesThe same adverts were also used on London buses
The same adverts were also used on London buses

Campaign group Go Vegan World paid for controversial adverts on Transink buses which read: “It’s not a personal choice when someone is killed. Use plants, not animals”, and another which read “Dairy takes babies from their mothers”.

On Friday Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president Ivor Ferguson issued a statement saying members whose children take Translink buses to school had been “outraged”.

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He wrote to Translink but was “unsatisfied” by the response which reflected “an inability to remove them”.

The next day Translink issued a statement on the row, which said: “These bus-side advertisements are in the process of being removed.”

But a spokeswoman from Go Vegan World now claims that it had been given a verbal agreement that it would get “free overshow” with the ads.

She added: “That is standard with many forms of advertising, including bus ads. So the ads should not have been removed unless there was a contract filled to replace them on the 12th [of January].”

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Her group asserted “the right to freedom of speech” and said the adverts “are factual and pre-approved by the Advertising Standards Authority”.

The spokeswoman added that Translink had not spoken to her about the matter.

“I believe that the UFU contacted them and asked to have the ads removed and they refused,” she added. “Subsequently, I saw that Translink allegedly stated that they were ‘sympathetic’ to the UFU. It is our view that Translink may have felt pressurised into issuing a statement to this effect. However, to be sympathetic to animal agriculture is to be sympathetic to the unnecessary exploitation and killing of defenceless animals for profit.”

She said the same adverts had run on the London Underground and in Scotland without complaint.

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But UFU president Ivor Ferguson strongly objected. “We respect all personal decisions when it comes to diets but to demonise the livestock industry to promote another industry is wrong,” he said. “Translink’s vegan adverts wrongly links agriculture to plant-based diets and the language is attempting to influence the general public to isolate the farming community through misinformation. NI is the envy of the world when it comes to high-quality food production and animal welfare standards.

“The agri-food industry turns over £4.5 billion annually supporting the NI economy and one in every eight jobs in the UK. Our farmers care for the environment and many have diversified their businesses helping to boost tourism in local areas, all of which benefits Translink.

“We want to work with Translink and hope they will review their vegan advertisements. Bus Éireann removed vegan advertisements from their buses in the Republic of Ireland after receiving a high volume of concerns and we would like to see Translink do the same,” said the UFU president.