Rural Ireland needs a dedicated minister

A minister for rural affairs is needed — but only if they are willing to face up to responsibilities far beyond the next election, writes Michael Clifford

Will there be a grand tour for the prospective minister for rural affairs?

Will he — there’s no she in the frame as of yet — be paraded through towns and villages on the back of a lorry, greeted like a liberator, a saviour, a human bulwark against decline and death.