This 8% rise in trade from the Republic of Ireland to the UK brings the 110,939t exported in the 2014 period last year up to 120,128t this year. Irish beef accounted for 70.5% of all UK beef imports in those eight months. Meanwhile Irish beef represented 76% of UK European imports .

Overall between January and August UK beef imports have seen a solid increase with total tonnage up to 176,000t, up 12% on the previous year. Some 90% of UK imports were imports from the EU which also saw a thirteen per cent increase on the same period last year.