Brother spioneering move pays off

February 1997

Brothers Paul and Peter Woods certainly didn’t stick their head in the sand when it came to considering the future of their north Wicklow sheep farm a few years ago.

In a move which dramatically changed the face of the family business at Glen of the Downs, they took the pioneering step of setting up the very first ostrich farm in County Wicklow.

Now almost two years later the fledgling enterprise has grown into a major success story with over a dozen birds at the Glenside Ostrich Farm, presenting a novel sight to passing motorists on the N11.

Five years ago, if you had told anyone that one day these exotic birds would be roaming Wicklow farmland, they would have thought you were spinning them an April Fool yarn.

But in the face of EU quota and the subsidy restrictions associated with more traditional livestock, combined with a growing demand for meat alternatives sparked off by the BSE beef crisis, ostrich farming has suddenly become a viable option.

According to Paul, ostrich meat tastes very like a fine fillet of beef, but with much lower levels of cholesterol it’s reckoned to be far healthier. Already it has featured on the menus of a number of local restaurants and according to Paul reaction has been very positive.