IRISH food and drink was a major contributor to the economy’s strong export performance in 2010, with export sales growing by 11% to €7.9bn, according to the Bord Bia Performance & Prospects Report published yesterday.

SUSTAINABLE farming is what the consumer wants. Thankfully, Ireland seems to be staying ahead of this particular curve.

THE number of applicants for the Dairy Business degree programme, run by University College Dublin and Teagasc, has almost doubled this year, it was disclosed yesterday.

SOMEBODY once wrote that gardeners are women who love flowers or men who hate weeds.

THE 2020 Strategy Committee for agri-food, forestry and fisheries is drawn from senior experts and participants in all aspects of the sector.

PAUL NOLAN’S decision to change tactics with Joncol worked a treat as Alain Cawley brought him with a withering challenge to beat the gambled-on Cooldine in the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup at Leopardstown yesterday.

THE value of food and drink exports fell €1 billion last year, according to Bord Bia’s Export Performance and Prospects report published yesterday.

BEEF exports could be boosted by a decline in European production over the next five years, according to Bord Bia.

BORD Bia has launched an intensified drive to broaden the food industry’s market reach and boost its exports, valued at €8.2 billion last year.

A PIONEERING graduate fellowship programme aimed at boosting Ireland’s €8.2 billion food and drink export sector was launched by Bord Bia in Dublin yesterday.

IRISH food, drink and horticulture exports declined by 6.5% last year to €8.16 billion, Bord Bia revealed yesterday.

Newport Gwent Dragons 12 Bath 15

IN HIS Christmas eve column, Steven King asserted that “the nativity story is an invention” and he informed us that his source is the Hungarian Jewish scholar Geza Vermes.

A MAJOR marketing drive is under way to re-establish Irish meat brands in markets worldwide.

ONE of the leading figures in the Irish meat industry, Dan Browne, has been honoured by the Agricultural Science Association.

THE pleasure of a garden: family barbecues, the dawn chorus of birds, children who won’t go to bed because kicking a ball or wielding a hurl outdoors is way too exciting… the memories came flooding back at Bloom garden show in Dublin yesterday.

LEADERS in the Irish food and drink industry were told yesterday that one of their biggest challenges is forecasting the future strategies of their retailer clients.

AN INDUSTRY-LED group to drive the research agenda in food and underpin the development of the Irish food industry has been set up by the Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan.

LASSE VIREN’S long-striding style was a familiar feature of seventies distance running. Brendan Mooney met the flying Finn in Helsinki as the city prepares to host the World Athletics Championships.

THE progressive Dawn Group, which was founded in Waterford 25 years ago, opened a €46 million flagship meat processing plant in Wales yesterday.

Vanitta Kinard’s story is just one of triumph over adversity at the US Olympic trials, reports Simon Lewis.