Ultimately, politics is about people and policies.

The late Taoiseach John Bruton constantly stressed the importance of the political process to the health of a nation. The last week has reinforced his views.

There were two very separate events that struck me.

ADVERTISEMENT

The first of course was the termination of the Jim Gavin run for the presidency and the importance of a free press and political accountability.

This all played out in the full glare of national publicity.

The second was much more low key but from a narrow, sectoral viewpoint important.

I mentioned last week that the joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture was holding a full meeting on the challenges facing the tillage sector.

The discussion was an excellent example of how specific problems can be brought to a body that can have real influence in contributing to a change in policy.

But first they have to be convinced that a change is warranted and for that they have to tease out the information available.

This they did in an utterly unpartisan way.

There was no grandstanding – simply an effort to understand the issues and to suggest potential solutions.

As the discussion went on, the key points emerged and some potential solutions were suggested.

But the key acknowledgment was that the Irish tillage sector is not competing on a level playing field.

The unfettered admission of imports from third countries that are allowed access to agri-chemicals and technologies banned in Europe, as well as fertilisers that are in many cases half the Irish cost because of the application of sanctions that are not observed by many of our competitors.

So Ireland and Europe are being undercut on both the world and on our own domestic market. Ultimately there was a recognition that the EU policy itself was fundamentally flawed in relation to the new, international developments in grain growing but in the short term, two interesting issues were raised.

Guaranteed Irish designation

The first: has Teagasc carried out a study quantifying the cost disadvantages borne by Irish producers? The second: should Bord Bia have a minimum, say 30%, inclusion rate of Irish constituents before they give a guaranteed Irish designation?

Two hugely valid questions that lead to the current examination on the ingredient requirements for Irish whiskey as well as the lack of a recognised audit scheme for Irish grain, as distinct from the existing quality assurance scheme operated by the industry itself.

All of this discussion took place with the cross-party recognition that manifesto support to the sector had been promised in the run up to the general election.