Agri-food sector keeps making a strong contribution to growth

During the years of excess in the Irish economy in the post-2000 period, I always had a strong sense that the agri-food sector, ranging from primary production to food manufacturing, never got the respect it deserved and was instead regarded as irrelevant and unimportant by many people.

Property development, rampant consumerism, and banking excesses were regarded as the only game in town and, accordingly, received lots of support and attention.

This was a big mistake as the agri-food sector is a high value-added indigenous industry with a very strong regional footprint.