Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I even ran three marathons without training for them. I could run all day on a soccer pitch at that time but, of course, I was much younger. I am glad to be able to walk at this stage.

Johnstown Castle is a real gem. It is extremely beautiful and it will be great if the public are given greater access to it. There is quite an amount of land attached to the castle and I am aware that Teagasc carries out a great deal of research there. I do not know how good that research is because I have not really studied the matter in any great detail. However, the Bill gives us an opportunity to discuss agriculture in the area. In that context, last weekend I bought some of the first new-season potatoes on sale in Wexford. As everybody knows, the best new potatoes in Ireland are grown in the county. The soil in Wexford seems to be unusual. Despite what the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, says, it is not very conducive to the good operation of septic tanks. However, it is very conducive to the cultivation of potatoes, strawberries and rhubarb. Of course, one cannot sell the latter. Years ago my father had an acre of rhubarb when no one else did. I love rhubarb and I used to get up in the middle of the night to cook and eat it. Last weekend I ate some British Queens I bought from Rowes of Fethard-on-Sea, which grows beautiful potatoes. I started a war on Twitter by mentioning this and all the other farmers in Wexford contacted me to argue in favour of the quality of their potatoes.

New potatoes are mainly grown on land located near the sea.

The sandy soil suits the British Queen.

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