Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak about agricultural shows. They offer a wonderful family day out and are taking place in every corner of Ireland in the coming weeks and months. I urge anyone who has never been to an agricultural show to go to the Irish Shows Association website at irishshows.orgwhere he or she will find a full list of upcoming events. There is sure to be something in the local area over the summer months. I strongly urge people to go along and see what the talk is all about.

I am lucky that in my constituency of County Offaly the Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock Show is held each year. It is the largest agricultural show in Ireland and offers an eclectic mix of the expected and the unexpected, which enthralls the thousands who flock to Tullamore and come back year after year. As its own literature says:

For those who think it is just cows and tractors then what can we say. Be prepared for an unexpected experience like no other. We guarantee that if you come you will be back, year after year.

I have certainly been going for many years now and, definitely, people will not be disappointed if they go. Bring the family too, because my own kids from age 11 to 19 always enjoy it. It is held on Sunday, 13 August.

Yesterday I was delighted to launch the sustainable livestock village which will be on site in Tullamore this year. This is such a wonderful opportunity to bring agricultural sustainability to an audience in excess of 60,000, many of whom play a central role in farming Irish land in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Speaking of sustainability and farming, I also want to speak briefly about organic farming. It is for me the definition of the sustainable farming system. I was delighted to be at the Salesian Agricultural College in Pallaskenry in Limerick last week to launch the conversion of its dry stock enterprise to organic. This is a wonderful example of leadership from Pallaskenry which will now be able to offer its students hands-on experience in this fast-growing sector which delivers for farmers, sustainability and nature. I was also delighted to meet Mary Fitzgerald in the nearby Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel who established an organic garden on the grounds of the family hotel in memory of her late husband, Dick. It is a fantastic example of how a sustainable mind can be teamed with a business acumen to bring benefits to a family enterprise and the wider public. The food produced in the garden is served daily in the hotel and has inspired the business to appoint a sustainability manager. An organic garden for any hotel with space to do it is a wonderful idea and brings fresh produce to the public in a direct example of farm to fork.