Senator Boyhan appointed to new Oireachtas Ag committee
Independent senator, Victor Boyhan, today (Thursday, May 8) confirmed that he has been appointed to the influential Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food.
Senator Boyhan, who also served on the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, believes there are a number of immediate challenges on the horizon for Irish agriculture as well as opportunities.
One of these which is fundamental to the future of Irish agriculture is the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Senator Boyhan told Agriland that as he 'comes from a family steeped in agriculture' he understands 'the ambition farmers have for their families and their rural communities'.
' My father was a cattle dealer who was forced to leave home early, he instilled in me the strong connection to homestead, place and roots – his generation that never got opportunity to return from where they came.
'His countless stories and indeed many regrets are a constant reminder to me of lost opportunities of too many rural communities,' Senator Boyhan added.
Oireachtas committee
According to Senator Boyhan, he is excited about working with the new chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food, the Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-West, Aindrias Moynihan.
He also paid tribute to the chair of the previous committee, former Fianna Fáil TD, Jackie Cahill, who Senator Boyhan said had the 'ability to summarise the problem and propose a solution' and was never afraid to challenge the status quo, if necessary.
According to the senator, one of the major challenges now facing Irish agriculture 'will be to consolidate and find new markets for Irish agri-exports in light of tariffs that may be pursued by the United States'.
'Clearly negotiation and a resolution to this impasse is in everyone's interest.
'I expect this issue will be a top priority for the new committee,' he added.
Senator Boyhan said one of his key objectives, once the new Oireachtas committee is up and running, will be will be to 'give a voice to farmers, producers and their representative organisations'.
'The committee has access to the minister for agriculture, the ministers of state and his departmental officials.
'Holding the minister and his department to account on policy performance and governance oversight is for me the most important aspect of my work on the committee, I look forward to working collaboratively and respectfully with all stakeholders to advance the best interests of the agricultural sector,' he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
15 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Woman suing Kildare businessman Paul Wright seeks $730k judgment in US
Cherish Thompson has accused Mr Wright of using client money to fund a lavish lifestyle and to buy a house for his son. The first law firm that was representing Mr Wright and his two Irish companies – Eterna Private Clients Europe and Wright Private Office – ceased doing so in April, citing irreconcilable differences with its clients. Just two weeks after new lawyers began representing him and his firms, they too secured permission from the court to come off record for their clients, also citing irreconcilable differences. Mr Wright and his two companies were then given until May 30 by the court to secure new representation. The court order at the time stated that a failure by Mr Wright and his firms to comply with that order would result in an automatic default being secured against him without further notice. 'The time for defendants to comply with the order, by May 30, 2025, has expired, and as such, plaintiff respectfully requests the entry of a default and default final judgment against the defendants including sanctions imposed against defendants,' notes an ex-parte motion filed by Ms Thompson's own law firm with the court. That motion wants the court to rule that a damages claim of $221,000 be trebled to just under $664,000 and that Ms Thompson also be awarded almost $65,000 in legal fees. It also requests that the award should bear an interest rate of 9.15pc per annum until paid. Ms Thompson has claimed she was introduced to Mr Wright in London in 2020 and that her business is now owed at least $221,000 by the defendants. Mr Wright, a UK national of Carton Demesne, Maynooth, Co Kildare, has been accused of using money raised from clients to fund a lavish lifestyle, including the use of a private jet and stays at luxury hotels. He and his firms have vigorously denied the claims, describing them as 'outlandish'. 'These proceedings have been instituted by an aggrieved former independent contractor to a UK company Mr Wright was involved with and which is currently in administration, and have absolutely nothing to do with Eterna Private Clients Europe DAC or Wright Private Office DAC,' Mr Wright's solicitor in Ireland said when the lawsuit was initiated last year.
Irish Independent
15 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Irish shares hit all-time high despite tariff uncertainty
The Iseq 20 index of leading Irish shares hit a record high of 1963.01 yesterday, slipping back only slightly before closing at 1,956.02. The index is made up of the leading shares on the Euronext Dublin exchange, including heavyweights Ryanair, Kerry, Kingspan and Glanbia as well as AIB and Bank of Ireland. Shares hit their high after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut rates for an eighth time in 12 months on Thursday, a move that would traditionally be seen as a boost to investment, credit and consumer confidence. The MSCI global index, which draws on leading shares from across the developed world, hit an all-time high on Tuesday, boosted by particularly strong gains for Germany's Dax index. In Ireland, the Iseq 20 index only at the start of this year recovered to levels seen in 2007, at the peak of the Celtic Tiger, unlike most European and US markets where shares have long since pushed higher over the past decade. However, the composition of the Irish shares indices has also radically changed, not just since 2007 – when bank shares crashed – but in the past three years as heavyweight stocks like CRH, Flutter and Smurfit Kappa shifted their listings to the US, shrinking the potential size of the Irish index. The Irish high this week was in line with global and European trends. Wall Street rebounded yesterday after a generally upbeat employment report, and a bounce-back in Tesla shares helped put the indexes on track for weekly advances. In the US, jobs numbers yesterday were relatively weak but not as bad as feared, and markets shifted higher in response. This is a sigh of relief report The US economy added 139,000 jobs in May while the unemployment rate held firm at 4.2pc, according to the Labour Department. 'This is a sigh of relief report; people were really worried that this was going to be a kind of start of a downturn in the labour market and therefore start the downturn in the economy,' said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. 'It came in pretty much on the screws and we've got a bit of a reprieve, at least for a month. That's leading to a pretty large relief rally,' Mr Ladner added. In Ireland and across the globe, investors are increasingly looking past the near-term risk of Donald Trump imposing further destabilising tariffs and anti-trade measures, and are focused on the underlying economy, which has so far shrugged off any real negative fallout. How long that can be sustained remains to be seen. Bank of America's influential strategist Michael Hartnett warned yesterday that global stocks are getting close to triggering a technical 'sell' signal, saying the market is running too hot after surging 20pc in just two months. He cited data points on fund flows and market breadth as evidence that investors have been rushing into risk assets and positioning is getting stretched. Traders often use that as a marker because it can theoretically indicate that the buying power in the market is likely to soon be exhausted, leaving prices vulnerable to a pullback. At the same time, the market is approaching 'overbought territory,' he said. The Bank of America data highlights a nervousness among traders about the rapid pace of recent stock gains. The combination of the Trump administration's tax-cut package to boost growth, plus a softer stance on tariffs and robust economic data, has fanned optimism. US equity futures rallied yesterday after the monthly jobs report came in stronger than expected. In Europe, the new German government's push to support industry as well as ECB easing of credit has fed into the rising stock markets. However, major risks are hovering close to the surface. Mr Trump has set a July 9 deadline for talks with the European Union to produce a trade deal, threatening a 50pc tariff on European goods if they fail. The White House has yet to lock in trade terms with China, Japan or Canada. Meanwhile, Mr Trump's public falling out with Elon Musk has been playing on stock markets as the main driver of swings in Tesla's share price, both higher and lower at different times this week.
Irish Independent
29 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Sarah Carey: Radio can engage us but JNLR figures will never be a true measure of its success
The JNLRs are driving Conall Ó Móráin mad. Ó Móráin produces brilliant Irish podcasts including That Great Business Show and the legal series, The Fifth Court, presented by Mark Tottenham and Peter Leonard.
