Joe Walsh bows out

By Pat O'Keeffe

Minister for Agriculture Joe Walsh was in fine form last Friday afternoon when he announced his intention to retire from his position when the Dail resumes on 29 September.

The venue was his own office. Pointedly, his invited audience was the agricultural journalists he had worked most closely with during his career, rather than the political correspondents who would normally handle such events. Of course, the agricultural media asked him the same hard questions; was he bowing out ahead of an expected reshuffle and was he very disappointed that he wasn't appointed Ireland's Commissioner?

A very relaxed Joe Walsh denied that he had ever sought to be nominated as Ireland's Commissioner. "I didn't seek the post and that is the factual position. If I had been offered the post, it would have created great difficulties for me personally, moving to a different city and a different country.''

'Appropriate time for change'

He said that he had indicated to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last Christmas that he had a few major issues to resolve in the Agriculture portfolio and that he would consider his position thereafter. These included the Presidency of the EU, as well as the detailed implementing rules of the CAP and the WTO.

All three have now been satisfactorily resolved, he said, making it an "appropriate time for change''. He added that he felt privileged to have spent 17 years in high agricultural office.

When asked for his plans post-retirement, the Minister first stated his intention to continue rising at seven every morning. He said that he plans to go back working in the sector that he came from - food product development. He said that he is passionate about quality foods and the potential of Ireland the Food Island. "I will become involved in the speciality foods area. As the standard of living increases, I believe people will go for speciality foods.''

'Sophisticated industry'

Looking back over his term of office, the Minister said that when he was first appointed, Ireland was predominantly a commodity exporter and reliant on intervention. "I'm very proud now to say that we have a very sophisticated agri-food industry, exporting finished products and consumer foods,'' he said.

The reputation of Irish food is now at an all-time high, the Minister said, highlighting the formation of Bord Bia and the passing of the Animal Remedies Bill as key initiatives during his tenure.

The Minister refused to speculate on his likely successor, other than saying that whoever is appointed will need to be prepared to understand the industry and be accessible at all times. The next Minister would not necessarily need to be from a farming background, he said, as consumer interests are now the major issue.

The fight against Foot and Mouth

Of course, Joe Walsh will always be associated with Ireland's fight to keep out Foot and Mouth in 2001.

He described the most traumatic point in his Ministry as being the moment Secretary General John Malone walked into his office at 8am and informed him that a positive result had been returned from Pirbright laboratory. "With 19 million susceptible animals in the country, it required immediate and decisive action to contain the outbreak in Cooley. I'm enormously proud of the performance of Irish people in all walks of life during that period,'' the Minister said. "We had no funeral pyries and we protected the international image of Irish food.''

So would Joe Walsh take a seat on the board of an agri-food company if it were to be offered to him? "I think after 17 years in public life, I'll take a break for a little while. Next year, I'll see what the lie of the land is in that regard.''

As the Minister made the announcement in his office in Agriculture House, the backdrop was a painting of a racing scene. Visible on the inside door of his cupboard was the Gain calendar of racing fixtures. No doubt Joe Walsh will be an even more regular racegoer after September 29.

Walsh's CAP role praised

IFA President John Dillon said that Joe Walsh would be remembered as a Minister for Agriculture with an excellent understanding of farming and the Irish food industry.

He also said that Walsh was very supportive of social partnership and praised him for "building alliances with major countries who have been strong defenders of the CAP''.

Fine Gael agriculture spokesman Billy Timmins said Walsh would be best remembered for his handling of the Foot and Mouth crisis. He added it was important that the Taoiseach now appointed a successor that was capable of leading Irish agriculture through the challenges of CAP reform and global competition.

In his term as Minister, Joe Walsh made a tremendous contribution to the Irish food and agriculture sectors, according to ICOS President Donal Cashman.

Macra president Thomas Honner, has said that Joe Walsh made "a huge contribution'' to Irish agriculture, and that his negotiating experience had benefited Irish farmers.

"As the longest-serving Minister for Agriculture in Europe, Mr Walsh has successfully negotiated a number of complex EU agriculture reform packages which, for the most part, have been good for Ireland,'' he said.

ICSA president Malcolm Thompson expressed disappointment at Walsh's decision to retire. "His finest achievement was his ability to listen to the farming grassroots and introduce full decoupling,'' he said.