A delegation representing Drinks Ireland and the Irish Whiskey Association met with Minister for Agriculture
This week, a delegation representing Drinks Ireland and the Irish Whiskey Association met with Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD. The delegation was led by Drinks Ireland Chair, Pat Rigney of The Shed Distillery and the Chair of Irish Whiskey Association, James Doherty of Sliabh Liag Distillers, joined by Cormac Healy, Carleen Madigan and Eoin Ó Catháin.
We took the opportunity to outline the current state-of-play of the Irish drinks sector – which has seen major success in recent years despite currently contending with challenging international markets and strong economic headwinds worldwide.
The long-term trajectory for our sector is positive – we have ambition for growth and continuing to make a strong economic contribution nationally - but central to maintaining this success is the support of government in investing in export development, maintaining trade channels and ensuring a balanced and evidence-based regulatory and policy environment at home.
Our sector has concerns with some market access issues and other restrictions – however, we were heartened to see these concerns taken on board by the Minister and we in turn took note of his commitment to continuing to grow Ireland’s food and drinks exports.
Our drinks exports include some of our more recognisable international brands, and are often the first touch-stone for international consumers with Irish agri-food quality and excellence. The geographical indication (GI) protection ensures that our products are and will remain Irish, and will continue to support many thousands of direct jobs across the island of Ireland.
We look forward to continuing engagement with government and seeing further sustainable growth in the years to come.
