Beet Ireland not dissuaded

THE Ploughing Championships week left the agriculture sector with a burden of national expectation, portrayed as one of the few bright spots in the economy.

However, there was a strangely muted reaction to the launch at the event of a €400 million investment plan to revive the sugar industry.

While announcements like Intel’s decision last January to begin a €370m upgrade of its Leixlip plant are front page news, the sugar plan hardly caused a ripple. That won’t dissuade Beet Ireland, the agri-business/beet growers/food processors group which is ready to go ahead with the project if, as expected, the EU sugar quota system is abolished in 2016.