Andrew Muir 'must change course' on farming says predecessor as unionist parties turn their fire on agriculture and environment minister

Michelle McIlveen, who held the post in 2016/17, added her voice to a unionist chorus of opposition to the direction of Mr Muir’s department.

It was sparked by a landmark vote of no confidence in the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs, taken by the UFU.

The party’s roughly 150-strong executive committee, chaired by UFU president William Irvine, passed the motion on Wednesday at its monthly meeting at the Loughry campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise near Cookstown.

Tonight, Mr Irvine told the News Letter that UFU officials will continue to take part in meetings with DAERA officials.

Asked if the vote amounts to a call for Alliance minister Mr Muir to step down, he said “we haven’t personalised this”, adding the problem is “across the board” at DAERA.

He told the News Letter that the mood among rank-and-file members is that, if anything, the vote was “overdue”.

The UFU had complained about DAERA’s approach to bovine TB, ammonia controls, and planning over the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP), an “unjustified focus on agriculture regarding climate change and Lough Neagh”, and more.

Michelle McIlveen, the DUP’s deputy leader and farming spokeswoman, told the News Letter: “We have long argued that DAERA, under the Alliance minister’s direction, has been pursuing an agenda that is hugely damaging to the industry and threatens the very fabric of our rural economy and community.

“The minister needs to change course – he must work in genuine partnership with the sector and recognise that his environmental crusade cannot be one pursued at the expense of farming.”

TUV leader Jim Allister meanwhile said today the vote had been “wholly understandable and appropriate”.

“The litany of issues recited in the UFU statement demonstrates there is not a single significant responsibility of the department and minister where there remains any confidence in them,” he said.

“Whether it’s NAP, ammonia, TB, net zero, this is an out -of-touch minister, whose ideology, not farming needs, shapes his every disastrous approach.

“Minister Muir has had his chance. He has failed.

"In any other system of government he would be gone, but, sadly, in Stormont failure is the order of the day!”

UUP MLA Robbie Butler, chairman of Stormont’s farming committee, said: “This is not just a warning shot, it is a seismic moment.

"The UFU, an organisation with a long and respected history of constructive engagement, has taken an extraordinary step that confirms what many in rural communities have long feared: the agriculture minister has, in practice, become the environment minister.”

Responding to the growing criticism, Alliance DAERA spokesman John Blair called the UFU move “counterproductive and disingenuous”.

He added: “Under Alliance minister Andrew Muir’s leadership, DAERA is committed to working with others to deliver a successful future for agriculture alongside the much-needed restoration of our environment.

“This latest move is neither constructive nor acting in the interests of the farming community longer term, especially given that many of these challenges have mounted under previous inaction by former DAERA ministers,” he said.

“Minister Muir has fought for funding for agriculture, ring-fencing over £300m for the sector, as well as securing £12.3m for a Just Transition Fund. He is rolling out our new Sustainable Agricultural Programme and has been engaging with the finance minister for further financial support for the industry.

“However, the Minister also has a duty to everyone in Northern Ireland to protect our environment, and Alliance makes no apologies for that. It would be better if the UFU worked with DAERA to identify solutions to the problems we collectively face.”

DAERA meanwhile has said: “The department is disappointed to learn of the UFU vote. Our door is always open to discuss issues with them.”