Joe McNamee: It's time for the Irish state to take food security seriously

When you’re crossing the road, holding the adult’s hand, you’d like to imagine they carefully look both ways. Not only is the Irish state refusing to look but, worse again, continues to blithely act as if there is no danger at all in leading us across the road blindfolded

Joe McNamee: "Teagasc acknowledges we have to import 84% of our fruit and veg but believes EU growers will continue to feed us in this regard. (By the way, 24% of our fruit and veg comes from Britain."

In what might be an episode of Emmerdale Farm written by John Le Carré, the opening section of an alarming report from the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs assessing Britain’s food security is reputed to have been written by British Intelligence (MI5 and MI6).

The UK’s National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems was to be released last autumn but Downing St sat on it until earlier this year. A swift perusal tells you why: it is a baldly damning warning that global biodiversity loss and the collapse of critical ecosystems could have a severe impact on Britain’s resilience, security and prosperity, especially food security. In other words, Britain’s own resources are currently insufficient to feed itself.