End of an era as Examiner Farming Editor retires

Irish Examiner, Farming Editor, Stephen Cadogan (on left) with John Comer, President of the ICMSA at the second day of the National Ploughing Championships at Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co. Laois. Picture Dan Linehan

The retirement last week of Stephen Cadogan as editor for the past 34 years of what is now the Irish Examiner’s Farming section marks the end of an era that saw dramatic changes in farming and the agri-food sector.

Since 1978, when he joined the then Cork Examiner as an agricultural writer, he chronicled the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy and its various reforms on what is still Ireland’s largest indigenous industry.

The introduction and subsequent abolition of milk quotas, the growth in agri-food exports, the closure of the Irish sugar industry, the merger and growth of dairy co-ops, and the cyclical pattern of farm incomes were among the issues that required his attention and study. His tenure also
focused on the foot and mouth and BSE crises in parts of the national cattle herd, multiple campaigns by the farm lobby, new technology in farming and the food chain, climate change and the environment.

Policy changes by the Government and the European Union, and the future of rural Ireland, were just some of the many vexed issues that required his analysis.

Building on the pioneering work of his predecessors, Tim Cramer and Dick Cullinane, he brought to the editorship a practical experience from his family farm background in Skibbereen, in West Cork.

Added to this were dollops of common sense and knowledge as an agricultural science graduate of University College Dublin.

The Irish Examiner Farming was originally named FarmExam, which was introduced in 1977 as a weekly supplement to what was then the Cork Examiner.

Quiet and courteous by nature, Stephen spent most of his working life in the Cork offices, head down behind a computer screen, beavering away without fuss or tantrum.

He had the respect and trust of readers and colleagues because his editorials and features were methodically researched, fair and balanced.

His byline was regarded as a stamp of integrity.

Even those who sometimes disagreed with his views accepted he was an honest commentator without malice or ego.

A supporter of agricultural shows, rural development, agri-technology, and the National Ploughing Championships, he also represented the Guild of Agricultural Journalists of Ireland internationally, serving as Communications Chairman of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, and has a wide knowledge of the global agri-food industry.

Outside of work, his great interest was and remains horse racing.

A student of form and breeding, he is a point-to-point racing enthusiast, and has enjoyed success inside the rails as a member of a racing syndicate in West Cork.

Patient and unflappable, he was never a glow worm and kept a low profile, preferring to let his work speak for itself.

On being told of his impending retirement the other day, a former colleague summed him up well.

“Cadogan,” he said, “was a Trojan worker. It will take two to replace him.”

•  Stephen Cadogan will continue as a weekly contributor to our agri-food coverage.