Beet Ireland calls time on sugar industry dream

Beet Ireland’s battle to revive Ireland’s sugar industry has ended.

The organisation has confirmed that it is selling its site near Carlow, which was earmarked for a new sugar processing facility.

The lands and facilities at Ballyburn, between Carlow town and Castledermot, are being sold by Coonan Properties.

“It is the end of the dream for us,” said Beet Ireland director Pat Cleary.

“Myself, Michael Hoey [of Country Crest] and others put our heart and soul into trying to get the industry back up and going since 2010. There is nothing more we could have done,” he maintained.

Cleary claimed there was never enough political commitment to reverse the decision to close down the sugar industry in 2005.

“It is very difficult to undo a bad political decision,” he commented.

Cleary said it was ironic that politicians are now talking of increasing Ireland’s tillage area to 400,000ha but they failed to back Beet Ireland’s efforts.

“We worked to get the EU sugar quota abolished in 2015 but at that stage the politicians threw all their eggs into the dairy basket,” the Kildare-based tillage farmer said.

“Now the wheel has turned again and probably the best crop to grow to sequester carbon is sugar beet; but that’s history for us at this stage,” Cleary said.

Philip Byrne of Coonan Property said the Beet Ireland site is being sold in four lots.

A guide of €695,000 is being quoted for Ballyburn House on 7.5ac; while a dormer bungalow on 0.75ac is expected to make around €450,000.

A guide of €1.65m is being quoted for an 82ac field in stubble, while €550,000 is being sought for a yard on 24ac that is currently leased to a neighbouring quarry business.