Rabbits could be a business success

October 1984

A new and exciting economic prospect for Co. Wexford was raised this week with the news that rabbit breeders from Co. Wexford and Co. Meath are examining the possibility of establishing a rabbit processing plant in the south east.

Claire Roche of Camolin, Secretary of the South-Eastern Rabbit Breeders Association, said this week that her organisation has established a firm export market for rabbits in France, and the next logical step was the establishment of a new processing plant.

‘At present, the rabbits marketed through our association are processed in Waterford, but the twenty breeders currently operating in Wexford, and other breeders in Meath with whom we have forged a close relationship, are now convinced that it is time to consider a specialised plant for rabbits,’ Claire Roche said.

The next step for the South-Eastern Rabbit Breeders Association was the formation of a coop to continue the association’s work of encouraging people to breed, rear and market rabbits, and to provide a secure structure upon which to base future developments in the processing area, Claire Roche said.

A number of people who had entered the rabbit business in the past had seen their enterprises fail because of inadequate planning and in particular bad marketing, she said. ‘We have been very careful to ensure that our export market is secure and that we are producing a product which is completely acceptable in the market place,’ she emphasised.