It was great to see that Dale Farm has sponsored the Christmas panto in the Grand Opera House in Belfast for the eighth year in a row.

While panto season is wonderful for the kids, and it’s great that Dale Farm support it, I have no need to be buying tickets for such performances as I get all the pantomime I need in the day job. More than once, negotiations have ended up at, “You’ll take this price for them cattle”, “Oh no I won’t”, “Oh yes you will”.

While I’ve met plenty of Widow Twankeys puffing themselves up with imagined importance, unfortunately the one character I have never dealt with is a Jack who’s willing to sell a fine cow for a handful of beans.