Michael McNamara TD promotes Irish food in Europe ahead of St Patrick’s Day

Issued : Wednesday 18 March, 2015

Clare TD Michael McNamara was promoting Irish food produce in Europe ahead of St Patrick’s Day. The Labour Deputy was part of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine delegation, which was in Luxembourg for separate meetings with the European Court of Auditors and members of the Luxembourg Parliament’s Agriculture Committee last week.

Clare TD Michael McNamara was promoting Irish food produce in Europe ahead of St Patrick’s Day. The Labour Deputy was part of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine delegation, which was in Luxembourg for separate meetings with the European Court of Auditors and members of the Luxembourg Parliament’s Agriculture Committee last week.

While in Luxembourg City, Deputy McNamara helped to launch the St Patrick’s Day Festival of Irish produce. As part of that festival, Auchan, a large supermarket chain in Luxembourg and France is now giving priority space to Irish produce.

As a farmer, he also pointed out the quality of Irish meat and dairy products and their importance to the Irish economy, pointing out that the vast majority of agricultural production, around 80 percent, is exported with Europe as its primary destination.

"Luxembourg, in relative terms, has wealthy and discerning consumers, and it’s to that type of market we must continue to pitch our food.  Ireland is not the cheapest country in Europe in which to live, so we need to pitch our products at a certain level. The high quality of our produce also demands a discerning and high quality market,” said the Labour TD.

During the trip he told European media, "As a country we did not do much to develop our fishing sector in the eighties. The downside of that is a relatively small fishing sector, while the upside is that most of the fish is landed by small family owned vessels so it's a sustainable type of fishing.”

He also highlighted the produce of drinks companies such as Guinness, Bulmer's, Bailey's, and Jameson, while emphasising the several small scale distilleries producing really high quality whiskey products.

The promotion of the Irish food followed the presentation of two key Agriculture Committee reports at high level meetings in Brussels with Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan and the Director-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Lowri Evans. Ms Evans, a Welshwoman, who heads up the Commission department responsible for the implementation of the Common Fisheries policy and of the Integrated Maritime Policy was very critical of Irish failure to use EU funding to develop its coastal communities.