Around 100 farmers took part in a protest in Killarney, Co Kerry, at the weekend to voice their objections to what they claim is the growing use of foreign meat by the Irish tourism industry.
The individual farmers - the main farm organisations in Kerry condemned the protest - are part of the new Kerry Farmers' Action Group. They formed a convoy of around 40 jeeps and trailers that held traffic up for some minutes at Killarney's roundabouts on Saturday.
Afterwards they handed out leaflets asking the public to buy Irish produce to support jobs.
Mr Willie Spring, spokesman for the group and a founder member of Kerry Co-op, said they did not want to upset Killarney too much. They simply wanted to highlight the use of cheap, foreign imports which were replacing Irish meat in the catering industry.
"This much of a crowd is good enough," he said.
Only a tiny percentage of local beef was being used in the multi-million euro tourism industry in Kerry, he said. Former junior minister for agriculture, the Fianna Fáil TD Mr Ned O'Keeffe, was among those to assemble at Fitzgerald Stadium, the GAA stronghold in Kerry.
The tourism industry was in danger of being undermined by foreign imports, he said. During the May Races, while in a Killarney hotel, he was served a Brazilian steak, which he identified immediately as not up to the quality of Irish meat.
"We don't have the best beef, but we have one of the best," Mr O'Keeffe said. He was committed to a campaign of identifying Irish meat in order to give "consumers a choice".
Along with beef and lamb, pork and bacon were being imported and served up as Irish. The chicken industry was "practically lost". This was going to lead to a lack of respect for "our own brands".
"Would Coca-Cola, an international brand, allow an imitation into their bottles? Would Kellogg's Cornflakes?" Mr O'Keeffe asked. Major profits were being made by food manufacturers and importers. There had to be legislation for country-of-origin labelling, he said.
Mr Donal Kelly, vice-chairman of the Munster IFA, who was present in a personal capacity, said the labelling issue had to be tackled. Imports of beef had trebled in the last three years and amounted to the equivalent of one million beef meals a week.
The IFA has called on the tourism industry to support the Féile Bia quality Irish Food initiative. Random DNA testing of beef and lamb is to be carried out by the IFA in hotels and restaurants in Kerry, the organisation announced late last week. It has promised to publish the results.
Representatives of the Irish Hoteliers' Federation in Kerry said the tourism industry wanted to support Irish and local produce. As far as they were concerned, the problem rested with the suppliers and the meat factories, Mr Pat Gill, chairman of the IHF in Kerry said. The hoteliers were under the illusion they were buying Irish meat, he said.
They had reports from members that even approved suppliers on the Féile Bia list were not supplying only Irish produce, Ms Kathleen O'Reagan-Sheppard, secretary of the Kerry branch of the IHF, said.