I had not heard Simon Coveney, the former minister for agriculture as well as foreign affairs, give his thoughts since he retired from active politics.

He now largely works as a consultant for the multinational EY accountancy, auditing and consultancy firm.

He had contested the Fine Gael leadership up against Leo Varadkar but lost both it and the chance to become Taoiseach.

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Last week he was one of the main speakers when the Irish Nuffield organisation, in an excellently-organised event, hosted its international counterparts from around the world. He spelled out his views on the competition that the EU farming and food sector faces for public funds, “with a belligerent US whose view is that “might is right” there are huge challenges for Europe as it literally fights for its existence.”

EU trade deals are now being done, he said, for commerce, not to insist on influencing human rights or environmental policies.

The World Trade Organisation has, as he put it, effectively collapsed and so deals such as Mercosur as well as a deal with India, will continue to be bilaterally negotiated.

While membership of the EU offers huge protection for Ireland, he was clear that those who are calling for Irish farm output to be reduced are guilty of flawed thinking.

“We need sustainable intensification with an obligation to continue to do research and use our natural resources.”

Against

He added that he was against the granting of direct payments just for owning land, we must look for strategic autonomy for Ireland in developing key sectors of our agriculture.

This was a theme echoed by both Minister Martin Heydon and IFA president Francie Gorman, both of whom spoke on the day.

There is little doubt that national discretion within the CAP framework is going to be one of the main issues, together with the overall size of the CAP budget in the coming negotiations.

The question of generational renewal, together with the multinational companies’ influence on the cost of doing business in Ireland, came up several times during the day but real solutions were thin on the ground.

Phil Hogan, the former European Commissioner for trade was, not surprisingly, focussed on becoming the next Director General of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations.

He made the interesting point that there was no impetus for a policy for real food security either in Africa or in Europe and no awareness of the need for stockpiles to cope with emergencies.

If he achieves his goal it will be interesting to see how he steers an organisation that has had little influence in achieving structural agricultural change.

An interesting speaker at the end of the day was Lord Iveagh, a direct descendant of the original Arthur Guinness. However he isn’t sitting on his hands.

His enormous farm in East Anglia has become one of the largest onion producers in Europe – a remarkable story.