Ella Mcsweeney's Posts

Irish pig farmer Tim Cullinan talks to Ella about the pressures pig farmers are under because of rising feed costs. He says it's time a supermarket ombudsman be appointed in Ireland.

Farmer Tim Cullinan on his farm near Moneygall in Ireland.

A 'mini-cow' breed that stands at just 4 feet in height and thrives on poor quality upland areas, is making a comeback in Ireland. The Dexter breed is native to the country but until recent years, numbers were very low. One of the farmers who's rejuvenating this breed is Dr. Steve Collins from Bedfordshire. He spent most of his life working on humanitarian projects in Africa . Today, he lives on a remote 140 acre farm in West Cork. I travelled high up into the mountains to meet him and his herd of little Dexter cows.

GM crop trials have been given the go-ahead in Ireland. Ella McSweeney travels to Teagasc (Ireland's semi-state agricultural authority) where the trials will be conducted. She talks to scientist Dr John Spink http://www.agresearch.teagasc.ie/oakpark who shows her the site where the GM potatoes will be planted. She also talks to Gillian Westbrook @gillianiofga of http://iofga.org and Wicklow farmer Michael Keegan http://www.waterfallfarm.ie/ @waterfallfarm

Wicklow dairy farmer Aidan Harney @ballymorefarm opens the gates of his sheds and watches as his herd of cows run out to the fields for the first time in four months...

Aidan tells Ella about his week old Ayrshire calf and explains how farming is going for him at the moment

It's only the females who give goat milk; in commercial goat herds, the males are usually killed at birth because they are surplus to requirement. Two years ago, Westmeath farmer Claudia Marl decided to test the market for goat meat: she kept the males and sold the meat to a Dublin butcher. In tonight's Ear to the Ground, Ella meets Claudia to hear her story. According to Teagasc, the potential for goat meat for export is there.

Ella McSweeney goes deer stalking in Wicklow with Angus Lee, game keeper at Killruddery House, and Ed Hick, a master butcher from Dublin.

Connemara Hill Lamb has an EU PGI label - protected geographical indication. The farmers talk about how they got the label and how it has changed their business: www.rte.ie/tv/eartotheground

There is only one local abattoir left in Middleton. It's owned by Frank Murphy, who is the 8th generation butcher in his shop. He cycles too and from the abattoir which is located in a lane way parallel to his butcher shop on Middleton main street. When Frank was younger, there were 7 abattoirs in the town. He talks to Ella about his life as a butcher and abattoir owner, and his 94 year old father Dan remembers what meat his customers bought in the past.

Elizabeth Higgins and Sheila Morgan tell Ella McSweeney about their experiences working as 'Avon Ladies' in 1970s in Dublin...

Brendan Murphy once had a butcher shop on main street, Middleton in Co. Cork. His abattoir was in the back lane. 16 years ago he retired; the abattoir was sold to the county council who demolished it and built houses on the site and his butcher shop is gone.

“Gather up the pots and the old tin cans... the mash, the corn, the barley and the bran...run like the devil from the excise man...keep the smoke from rising barney...keep your eyes well peeled today, the excise men are on their way...” And we all know what the ‘mountain tay’ the excise men were looking for in the hills of Connemara! Poitin. It’s long associated with illegality: first outlawed back in 1661, it was relatively recently, in 1997, when the Revenue Commissioners permitted the licensed sale of it within Ireland. Ella meets Mairtin MacConrai, a part time farmer from Leitir Moir, Connemara, who first made poitin with his father 50 years ago. She also visits Cooley Distillery in Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath where they are making 1,000 bottles of 65% proof poitin; she talks to head distiller Alex Chasko and manager, Brian Quinn.

Máirtín MacConrai tells Ella about his experiences making poitin with his father in rural Connemara 50 years ago...

Máirtín MacConrai lives in Connemara and here describes how he used to make poitín with his father 50 years ago.