Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA has today written to the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir MLA, calling for an Independent Inquiry into the culling of 51 cattle near Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone, at the end of June.

In his letter, Mr Burrows argues that the external review announced by the Minister does not meet the seriousness of what occurred, and warns that the Terms of Reference, expected to be published within days, must not be set by the Department alone.

Jon Burrows said:

"Monday's session of the AERA Committee did not put these concerns to rest. Officials called these animals semi-feral and Committee members pushed back, pointing to their statutory identification and TB testing history. The Department's reading of the court order was challenged and when the Minister was asked how many shots were fired, he said that was a matter for the review.

"That is the whole problem in a sentence. He has handed a central question to a process that may not have the power to answer it. Where accounts conflict, you need someone who can compel documents and take evidence from everyone involved. That is an inquiry, not a review."

On the Terms of Reference, Jon Burrows said:

"Whoever writes the Terms of Reference decides what can and cannot be examined. If DAERA writes its own, it will be seen to have marked its own homework, and the outcome will not be believed whatever it concludes. The terms should be agreed jointly between the Department and an independent Chair. That is not a technicality. It is the difference between a process the farming community will accept and one it will not."

Jon Burrows also condemned the abuse directed at departmental staff and at the Minister:

"Let me be very clear. The threats and abuse aimed at DAERA staff, and the death threat made against the Minister himself, are contemptible. There is no place for it. Those responsible are not helping the farmers who want answers. They are handing people an excuse to look away from the real questions. Accountability is pursued through proper process, not through intimidation."

He added:

"I have suggested to the Minister that Mr Brian Walker be given serious consideration as Chair. He is a former Deputy County Court Judge of twenty years' standing and a former President of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, and he understands this industry. In a case where the Department's own account is one of the things under examination, the Chair must be someone who will test that account rather than simply receive it.

"The Department's staff deserve this examined properly too. They have been placed in an impossible position and they are entitled to a process that reaches a clear conclusion rather than one that leaves suspicion hanging over them."