The who’s who of agri-communications were in attendance for the two-day Project Connect gathering in Kildare last week, The Dealer is led to believe. The think-in was chaired by former Department of Agriculture secretary general Tom Moran, with Bord Bia’s John Murray being a very active sidekick.

The consensus among those in attendance was that the Project Connect initiative – which aims to push back on the negative media portrayal of agriculture and food processing in relation to climate change and the environment – has momentum and will progress in some shape or form.

However, the consensus gets a tad wobbly when questions are asked about the likely shape or form.

Budget

Some in the room wanted a strong entity with a decent budget and all the bells and whistles attached – namely, a CEO and secretariat – that could represent the entire industry in the media.

Others believe Project Connect should simply be a research hub for the sector, where organisations have access to the latest national and international data and information.

It will be interesting to see which of these two very different visions wins out.