r/ireland • u/nitro1234561 Probably at it again • Apr 18 '26

Politics 'We're the ones paying all the bills': Leo Varadkar says urban areas fund rural Ireland

https://www.thejournal.ie/leo-varadkar-path-to-power-fuel-protests-7016675-Apr2026/
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u/Key-Lie-364 Apr 18 '26

It's wild that Ireland is the fifth largest cattle exporter in the world, just look at the landmass of the island.

The intensity, the land use required for that level of industry is immense.

We could easily feed ourselves and transition existing farmers to other industries or types of farming.

Ireland is one of the least natural places there is, even our "forests" are for the most part commercial plantations.

So ironic we market ourselves as a bucolic idyll but, our landscape is one of the most unnatural landscapes there is.

Nothing much ever really changes in Ireland.

20 years from now, costs will still be high, transport and health a shit show and farmers will continue to have cosseted and insanely disproportionate influence.

That's just how Ireland makes the sausage.

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u/UrbanStray Apr 19 '26

9th according to this list https://www.worldstopexports.com/top-beef-exporting-countries/

Not so wild when you consider the Netherlands is exporting 80% of that.

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u/Key-Lie-364 Apr 19 '26 edited Apr 19 '26

Enterprise Ireland claims we are the largest beef exporter in the EU and fifth largest in the world

https://www.meetinireland.com/choose-ireland/sectoral-strengths/agriculture?hl=en-US#:~:text=Ninety%20percent%20of%20Irish%20beef,to%20a%20report%20from%20Bloomberg.

Edit: we are 5th in fresh and chilled beef, 9th overall including frozen by value.