Ireland's 17,500 dairy farmers championed at awards ceremony

Kilkenny dairy farmer Eamon Sheehan accepts the award on behalf of Ireland's 17,500 dairy farmers.

A Kilkenny dairy farmer has accepted an award on behalf of Ireland's 17,500 dairy farmers, who were recognised as "the backbone of Ireland’s agri-food business" and rural economy.

Eamon Sheehan from Bawnlusk in Kilkenny, who is also a farm ambassador for the National Dairy Council, accepted the Outstanding Contribution to Food Production award at this year’s Good Food Ireland Awards, which took place at the K Club in Kildare on Monday (April 17).

Margaret Jeffares, founder and managing director of Good Food Ireland, said: “This honorary award from Good Food Ireland is to recognise and celebrate the thousands of farmers all over Ireland that provide the primary ingredients for menus and what we eat and drink every day. The farmers who send their milk to the co-ops, who never engage directly with consumers and really are, as we see it, the unsung heroes of our food industry.

"On behalf of our Tourism Hospitality businesses and our customers, we want to say thank you to farmers and honour them through this award. Farming is a generational legacy and offers an immense cultural contribution to Irish tourism and the wider community.”

Returning for the first time since pre-Covid, the event was opened by guest of honour, Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, and attended by some 300 guests, including business owners, Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders.

Commenting, National Dairy Council chief executive Zoë Kavanagh said: “Farmers are the driving force behind quality products that people want to purchase and are a key part of a healthy, modern lifestyle - the demand for which just keeps increasing – and yet, as an industry, what we are doing in the area of sustainability simply is not being recognised. 

"These awards are unique in the way that they champion Ireland’s primary food producers. Good Food Ireland wants to shine a light on biodiversity at farm level as well as the way producers grow, cultivate, and harvest premium food produce to leading chefs, establishments, and retailers. Now, more than ever, it is important to show all the hard work and innovation that is happening within the Irish farming industry.

"Ireland’s 17,500 dairy farmers work 365 days a year to produce the highest quality dairy produce, which is revered all over the world, exporting to 191 countries with an €6.2bn contribution to the economy."

NDC farm ambassador Eamon Sheehan added: "Our climate and land produces dairy with one of the lowest carbon footprints internationally, primarily due to the unique Irish grass-fed, family-farmed system, which is extremely efficient. During challenging times people need to have trust in what they know; dairy is nutritious, accessible, and affordable and is recognised as a vital part of people’s diet and general health across the life stages, indispensable to Ireland’s social and economic well-being.”