I see that the Department of Agriculture has won an award for Excellence in Collaboration, for achieving access to the Chinese market for Irish beef.

The project, described as long term (which indeed it was), involved collaboration across a number of divisions in the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Bord Bia team in Dublin and Shanghai.

Market access for beef to China was announced on 16 April 2018, when Ireland became the first western European beef exporter to secure entry, with Irish beef hitting Chinese shores in June of this year.