The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) organics chair Fergal Byrne has expressed his hope that Glenisk "will be able to find a way forward as quickly as possible" following the devastating fire that destroyed the manufacturing unit.

“The entrepreneurship of the Cleary family has been phenomenal over many years in driving the organic dairy sector," Byrne said.

"It is to be hoped that this is only a temporary setback and that the Glenisk brand will bounce back bigger and better than ever before.”

The ICSA said that government should "ensure that every assistance" is given to Glenisk, both "in the short-term and medium-term so that their business is kept viable".

“A key target is to achieve 25% of European land under organic farming by 2030.

"While this target may be unrealistic, it is clear that companies like Glenisk are vital to achieving progress towards this and ICSA believes there is a case for support from Europe to assist this company to recover from such a setback.”  

Glenisk has thanked everyone for their support, after what was "the blackest of days" yesterday.

Extensive damage was done to the plant in Killeigh, near Tullamore, after a fire that broke out around midday.

Some 50 staff were on site at the time but, thankfully, there have been no injuries arising from the incident.

"The outpouring of love is a beacon," a statement from the company said.

"Keep some space for us in your hearts [and fridges]. We'll be back very soon. Meantime, consider supporting another local producer."

Glenisk has also asked those in a position to do so to "help Self Help Africa with a small donation to the One Million Trees campaign".

"We're so close to reaching two million trees [and] we may not now be able to get them over the line as we'd hoped."

The company said that yesterday was a "bad day for Glenisk but much worse for others in the world".