Bord Bia chair's restaurant: The Irish Times says its chicken came from the Netherlands and Poland, TheJournal.ie names only the Dutch and puts the protest at 40
Farmers protested on Friday outside a Dublin restaurant part-owned by Larry Murrin, chair of Ireland's State food-promotion body, and the Irish Farmers' Association repeated its call for him to go. Two reports differ on where the chicken came from, how many protested and who they were.
What happened. Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) members protested on Friday outside Sole Seafood & Grill on Drury Street, Dublin. Larry Murrin, chair of Bord Bia, part-owns the restaurant. Both reports say the protest followed an Irish Times review that found the restaurant's chicken was not Irish.
Where the accounts differ.
| TheJournal.ie | The Irish Times | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin of chicken | "non-free-range Dutch chicken" (the review's headline) | "from the Netherlands and Poland" |
| Protest size | "around 40 farmers", a figure from the IFA | no number given |
| Who protested | "a group of farmers" | mainly poultry farmers from Monaghan, Cavan and Louth |
| Farmers quoted | 1 | 3 |
| Lead | the protest and Murrin's Brazilian beef imports | the demand that he resign |
What both carry. The restaurant's statement: it buys chicken breast from "an EU based supplier" because a "consistent and timely supply" in Ireland "has not been possible". Only The Irish Times carries its claim that Ireland is "less than 50 per cent self sufficient in chicken breast meat".
The demand. The IFA's Patrick McCormick told The Irish Times: "I would like to see Larry Murrin resigning." IFA poultry chair Brendan Soden told TheJournal.ie the IFA still wants him to step down.
Not settled. Neither report has a word from Murrin. The Irish Times says he was contacted. The only crowd count comes from the group that organised the protest. Only one report names Poland. Bord Bia said it does not comment on board members' private business.
What this is about: whether the man who chairs Ireland's State food-promotion board can part-own a restaurant that serves imported chicken.
The body. Bord Bia is the Irish Food Board, a State agency under the Department of Agriculture. It markets Irish food and drink at home and abroad. It also runs the quality-assurance schemes that many Irish farmers join so they can sell under its logo. Farmers pay into that system and see Bord Bia as their brand. That is why the chair's own sourcing matters to them.
The chair. Larry Murrin founded and runs Dawn Farms, a food group that makes cooked meat for export. He also co-owns the EHL hospitality group with Padraic O'Kane. Sole Seafood & Grill belongs to EHL.
How it got here. In January it emerged that Dawn Farms imported some beef from Brazil. Irish farm groups have long opposed more South American beef coming into Europe, since it competes with their own. The IFA and Sinn Féin called on Murrin to step down. Farmers occupied Bord Bia's lobby for four weeks, The Irish Times reports. In February Murrin told an Oireachtas committee that Brazilian beef was "less than 1%" of his company's supply. A governance review of Bord Bia followed. The Irish Times says the review found him seen as giving "clear leadership". He stayed in post.
The new row. A week before Friday's protest, an Irish Times restaurant review said Sole's €35 chicken dish used imported, non-free-range chicken. The restaurant says Irish supply of chicken breast is not reliable enough.
The actors. The IFA is Ireland's largest farm organisation. This time its poultry farmers lead the protest. Bord Bia's board answers to the Minister for Agriculture, who appoints it.
What is at stake. For farmers, it is whether the body that sells their produce believes in it. For Bord Bia, it is the credibility of its Irish-food message.
Where it stands. Murrin remains chair. He has not publicly answered the new call to resign.
What is being argued about
- Where Sole's chicken came from: the Netherlands only, or the Netherlands and Poland
- How many farmers protested, and who counted them
- Whether a Bord Bia chair may serve imported food in a business he part-owns
- Whether Ireland grows enough chicken breast to supply its restaurants
Two reports, one protestSide by side
| Question | TheJournal.ie | The Irish Times |
|---|---|---|
| Where the chicken came from | "non-free-range Dutch chicken", in the review's headline | "the Netherlands and Poland" |
| How many protested | "around 40 farmers (according to the Irish Farmers' Association)" | No number |
| Who protested | "A group of farmers" | "primarily" poultry farmers from Monaghan, Cavan and Louth |
| Farmers quoted | 1: Brendan Soden | 3: Brendan Soden, Patrick McCormick, Kevin Sweeney |
| Restaurant's supply figure | Not carried | "less than 50 per cent self sufficient in chicken breast meat" |
| Governance review's view of Murrin | Not carried | "clear leadership" |
Neither report quotes Larry Murrin. The Irish Times says he was contacted for comment.
Sources
T
TheJournal.ie
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
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Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
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The Irish Times
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
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Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
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Centre
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TheJournal.ie
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
T
The Irish Times
Centre
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The Irish Times
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
From Brazilian beef to Dutch chickenTimeline
- 2026-01— no time published Dawn Farms Reports emerge that Murrin's company imported Brazilian beef. The IFA and Sinn Féin call for him to step down.The Irish Times
- 2026-02— no time published Larry Murrin Tells an Oireachtas committee that Brazil supplied a small share of his company's beef less than 1%TheJournal.ie
- 2026-09— no time published The Irish Times A restaurant review says Sole's €35 chicken dish uses imported, non-free-range chicken €35a week before the protest
- 2026-10-02— no time published IFA Farmers protest outside Sole on Drury Street, Dublin, and call for Murrin to resign around 40, by the IFA's countTheJournal.ie
The reports give months, not days, for the earlier events.
Sources
T
TheJournal.ie
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
T
The Irish Times
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Centre
estimate · not a score
TheJournal.ie
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
T
The Irish Times
Centre
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The Irish Times
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
The bias in this coverageBias
Farmers quoted, the chair not heard
One report quotes three farmers and the other quotes one. Neither carries a word from Larry Murrin himself, and only one says he was contacted. The restaurant's statement appears in both, but only one carries its figure on Irish chicken supply.
3 farmers quoted in the longer report
1 farmers quoted in the shorter report
0 reports quoting the chair today
1 reports carrying the supply figure
Scored without the mastheads. Where the two passes differ, both are kept.
Sources
T
TheJournal.ie
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
T
The Irish Times
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Centre
estimate · not a score
TheJournal.ie
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
T
The Irish Times
Centre
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The Irish Times
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Claims and verdicts
No claims registered.
Who wrote it
E
Emma Hickey
TheJournal.ie
What the bias passes found in their reporting
Actor named
The government is named as the actor that accepted the recommendation. The parents are not mentioned×1
Actor named
names the government as the one that chose×1
Asserted flat
Calls the chair unpopular without attributing it×1
Figure attributed
Gives the crowd size and attributes it to the protesting group×1
Claims we checked that rest on their reporting
1 unverified4 true
From 84 reports we hold under this byline, at
TheJournal.ie. Two independent readings, each made without the masthead, a quote attached to every tag. A record, never a rating.
Their full record →
Ó
Órla Ryan
The Irish Times
What the bias passes found in their reporting
Counter evidence carried
Carries a governance review's finding in the chair's favour×1
Hedged versus stated
review's findings stated as revealed fact×1
Omission across reports
only report carrying the governance review's finding in the chair's favour×1
Restaurant's defence quoted
Quotes the restaurant's figure on domestic supply×1
Claims we checked that rest on their reporting
1 unverified1 true
From 42 reports we hold under this byline, at
The Irish Times. Two independent readings, each made without the masthead, a quote attached to every tag. A record, never a rating.
Their full record →
The bylines on the reports this story is built from. Hover one for what our passes have measured on their reporting.
Coverage, outlet by outlet
T
TheJournal.ie
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
Centre
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TheJournal.ie
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Farmers protest outside Larry Murrin-linked restaurant after row sparked by Irish Times review
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
What we have measured
Accuracy of attribution The report calls the Tánaiste the Taoiseach partway through. That puts his words under another office. ×1Accusation carried without a reply a charge against a named party, no answer from it in the text held ×1Actor labelling calls the accusers 'opposition parties' when the named accuser is the deputy First Minister ×1Actor mislabelled The first line calls the accusers 'opposition parties', but the accuser quoted is the DUP deputy First Minister, who sits in the same executive ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
— Gives the only crowd size, "around 40 farmers", a figure it credits to the IFA. Calls Murrin "already an unpopular figure among many farmers" without saying who says so.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more. A GROUP OF farmers is currently protesting outside the Dublin restaurant part-owned by the chairman of Bord Bia, Larry Murrin. SOLE Seafood and Grill on Drury Street, a busy area in the city centre, has received a protest made up of around 40 farmers (according to the Irish Farmers’ Association) after the Irish Times published a food review on the restaurant’s offerings. Headlined ‘I’m in shock – €35 for chicken supreme using non-free-range Dutch chicken’, the review included a number of claims about the origin of some of
Hedged versus stated: review's findings framed as claims — “the review included a number of claims about the origin of some of the fish and other meat as being from outside Ireland”
Measure chosen: protest size given, attributed to the organisers — “around 40 farmers (according to the Irish Farmers’ Association)”
Hedged versus stated: the chair's unpopularity stated flat — “Larry Murrin is already an unpopular figure among many farmers”
Figure attributed: Gives the crowd size and attributes it to the protesting group — “around 40 farmers (according to the Irish Farmers’ Association)”
Asserted flat: Calls the chair unpopular without attributing it — “Larry Murrin is already an unpopular figure among many farmers”
Read it at TheJournal.ie →
https://www.thejournal.ie/larry-murrin-restaurant-protest-7180916-Oct20…
T
The Irish Times
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
—
Centre
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The Irish Times
🇮🇪IE ·
digital ·
Protesting farmers demand Bord Bia chair quits over foreign chicken served in restaurant
Open this report in The AI Times →
Read it at The Irish Times →
What we have measured
Actor framing The release is framed as a joint agreement, with no pressure mentioned ×1Actor named Names the residents as the ones who blocked the road ×1Actor named killers named as 'loyalist gunmen'; verb 'shot dead' ×1With no actor named construction no actor named for the theft or the driving in the standfirst ×1
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
— Names Poland as well as the Netherlands, and says the protesters were mainly poultry farmers from Monaghan, Cavan and Louth. It is the only report to carry the restaurant's supply figure, Bord Bia's refusal to comment
Farmers have demanded Bord Bia chairman Larry Murrin resign after it emerged that a popular Dublin restaurant he part-owns serves chicken from the Netherlands and Poland. The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) held a protest outside Sole Seafood & Grill on Drury Street, Dublin, on Friday, a week after a review in The Irish Times revealed the restaurant had not served Irish or free-range chicken. The protest primarily consisted of poultry farmers from counties Monaghan, Cavan and Louth, many of whom said they found out about the situation via media coverage last week. Several farmers called on Mu
Hedged versus stated: review's findings stated as revealed fact — “a week after a review in The Irish Times revealed the restaurant had not served Irish or free-range chicken”
Whose voice is quoted: carries the restaurant's argument about supply — “Ireland is less than 50 per cent self sufficient in chicken breast meat.”
Omission across reports: only report carrying the governance review's finding in the chair's favour — “found that Murrin was viewed as providing “clear leadership” at the State agency”
Verb of certainty: Says the review 'revealed' the sourcing rather than reported it — “a review in The Irish Times revealed the restaurant had not served Irish or free-range chicken”
Counter evidence carried: Carries a governance review's finding in the chair's favour — “found that Murrin was viewed as providing “clear leadership” at the State agency”
Restaurant's defence quoted: Quotes the restaurant's figure on domestic supply — “Ireland is less than 50 per cent self sufficient in chicken breast meat.”
Read it at The Irish Times →
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026/10/02/protesting-farmers-demand…
Checked, didn’t cover
R
RNZ
Centre
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RNZ
🇳🇿NZ ·
digital · PUBLIC
What we have measured
Headline against body headline claims a 20-year decline reversed; the first line of the body reports a new low in reading ×1Headline against body headline claims a turnaround; the text carries a record low and puts it on boys ×1
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Abstraction as the actor the dispute acts and no one in it is named ×1Account taken as default the police description of the crowd as 'hostile' is carried with no other account ×1Accuracy the Slovenia entry in the country list repeats Austria's name ×1Active voice offender Donaldson is named as the one who did the abuse, in the active voice. ×1
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ABC News (Australia)
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public broadcaster · public-service
What we have measured
Actor label and hedge The same man is called 'far-right' and named by his legal name. The act is hedged with 'allegedly', where the longer report states it flat. ×1A different count, stated flat one dead and 140 missing, unattributed, earliest of the four ×1Affected counted The only report to count the local people affected ×1Are the dead named one of the dead named, through a relative at the hospital ×1
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What we have measured
Dating and attribution 'It was not until Tuesday' is a judgement about delay, not a date. No other report we hold comments on how long the German finding took. ×1How hard the claim is stated Headline says the UN voted to adopt and replace; the last sentence of the report says the vote is non-binding ×1How hard the claim is stated The qualification arrives in the last sentence and is immediately overridden by an effect the report gives no source for. ×1Which figure is used States the replacement as done — the Assembly voted to replace the map — where the resolution urges states to use a different projection. ×1
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Actor named Denial in the passive voice, with no one named as the person who dismissed it ×1Actor named names Israel as acting and states the death toll flat, with no source ×1Actor named Ireland named as the side that ended the conference ×1Allegation omitted the police statement is cut with an ellipsis where the other two reports carry the controlling or coercive behaviour allegation ×1
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CBC News
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Asserted vs attributed the measure is attributed to the three governments; the territory is called occupied in the outlet's own voice ×1Attribution kept in the headline the sourcing travels with the claim into the headline ×1Figure rounded in the headline more than 600 in the headline; the body sources it to a flight-tracking site ×1How the sourcing is hedged the claim is hedged to an unnamed newspaper in both headline and body; the reporting is not held by this report ×1
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Silence is recorded, not inferred — each of these was read when we built this story
and carried nothing on this event.
We could not read these
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The Times
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it is not evidence of anything about this story.