Welcome to Agri Careers 2017. Let me hit you with some stats – one in eight jobs in Ireland is supported by the agricultural sector, while one job in food manufacturing alone supports five more jobs across the economy. In foreign direct investment, one job supports just one other job. We don’t hear these facts often enough. And that’s what the Irish Farmers Journal is trying to address with the Agri Careers Fair.

The fair also serves to meet a greater need. There are people out there who need jobs and there are employers in this sector struggling to find the right employees. This event brings these people together – to simply have a chat. We are delighted to have almost all of last year’s exhibitors participating again and to welcome many new faces. Best of all, we have our partners open eir on board again. They are fantastic to work with and are recruiting themselves at the fair – for 50 apprentices.

We hope this supplement gives you a flavour of what’s to come and we look forward to meeting you at the fair. See you on 30 March.