My least favourite part of the job
WITH THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND THE MARINE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PORTFOLIOS IN THE IRISH GOVERNMENT, THE CORKMAN IS FOLLOWING MINISTER MICHAEL CREED TO SEE HOW HECTIC IT IS IN HIS JOB
‘MONDAY morning you sure look fine, Friday I’ve got traveling on my mind’ ... as Fleetwood Mac would put it.
Like most Corkonians, I bounced into the new week buoyed by the success of the Cork hurlers just 24 hours previous. For the second time in a fortnight I found myself on the top floor of County Hall, on this occasion to oversee the signing of the contract for works to be carried out on the East Tip at Haulbowline. The mood was upbeat amongst all present as this long awaited project took a major step forward.
From County Hall, I departed the home of the Munster hurling champions to make my way to a meeting with my Fine Gael ministerial colleagues in Dublin.
Cabinet returned to its more usual Tuesday morning slot, with a busy agenda ahead of the final week of Dáil sittings before the summer recess.
It was early afternoon before I emerged to attend the launch of the first ‘Farmed Animal Health Strategy’, in UCD. This strategy, as compiled by stakeholders across disciplines, will be important in maximising the potential of our livestock industry by reducing incidence of disease and promoting health and welfare.
I took the opportunity whilst in UCD to visit their veterinary school and hospital which, I must say, is most impressive. On my return from UCD I had a busy evening ahead, as I faced a firm interrogation from members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Agriculture Food and the Marine, on recent issues in the fishing industry, including the UK’s decision to signal its intention to withdraw from the London Fisheries Convention.
After the committee meeting I was pleased to be informed that members of the IFA, who had occupied the reception of Agriculture House over the previous five days, had ended their protest and that a meeting with the IFA leadership would take place in the morning.
I strolled in to Ag house for 7.30am on Wednesday morning ahead of what promised to be a busy day. The first scheduled meeting of the morning was the opening of discussions with IFA President Joe Healy and his team on finalising a crop support measure for tillage farmers severely affected by adverse weather during the autumn harvest of 2016. Exchanges were business like and I was sure that progress could be made. As discussions intensified, the president and I departed to allow our respective teams the opportunity to hammer out the finer details.
In the early afternoon I met briefly with my former Dáil colleague Michael McCarthy, who is now heading up Irish Solar Energy. Afterwards I attended in the Dáil chamber to witness the Taoiseach impressively calling out Deputy Paul Murphy for his role in the infamous Jobstown protest.
Back at the ranch I spent the evening chairing the tenth sitting of the beef roundtable, which brings together steakholders (sic) in the beef industry to discuss a range of topical issues pertaining to the sector. This can be a challenging gathering at times; however, given a positive market situation at present the atmosphere was temperate.
My final official duty of a busy day was to sit down for a wide ranging chat with Juno McEnroe of the Irish Examiner. Unofficially, however, there were numerous updates throughout the night on the tillage discussions, which hadn’t concluded.
Minister of State Ciaran Cannon was a guest in the Department early on Thursday morning as we formally launched the African Agrifood development initiative. From Africa to Clare, so to speak, for a phone interview with Clare FM’s Morning Focus Programme quickly followed by an interview with the Irish Food Directory. It’s an interesting phenomenon at times seemingly repeating the same answers over and over again to different interviewers. If I had a Euro for every time I’ve said the word Brexit at this stage ... well, we wouldn’t need to be as worried about it!
From interviews to photoshoots, I took part in two separate photocalls in the early afternoon - my least favourite part of the job! After much grinning and posing I departed for Kilfenora, County Clare to celebrate with the tremendous Burren farming community, who I presented a special EU Life award to mark the role they have played in protecting and enhancing the unique landscape in which they live and farm.
Over the weekend I took in the sunshine at the Baile Bhuirne/Cuil Aodha show and the Coachford Family Festival as I continued my tour of the country’s summer shows before flying out to Brussels Sunday evening ahead of Council of Agriculture Ministers on Monday.
Traveling on my mind ...