It feels like St Patrick's day has come early to New York this year!

On a cold February evening, Minister Convey was joined in New York by the A -List of Irish farming and meat processing as they prepare for the launch of Irish beef in the USA. The Minister has been doing the rounds of the broadcast media in Ireland over the weekend and again this morning with this good news story.

In New York he has a packed diary for the day, meeting with Sysco and the American Ireland Fund before lunch with leading Ireland-American business leaders. The afternoon is given over to a series of one to one trade meetings before the formal launch of Irish beef on American soil before an audience of top chefs and food writers.

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Bord Bia have the logistics in place to showcase Irish beef at its brilliant best and the industry and farmer representatives are all wearing the green jersey, acting as ambassadors for our beef. It is a fabulous occasion to be the first European country back in the American market. The timing couldn't be better with the American herd in the process of rebuilding and Australia, who had targeted the States, experiencing their own decline in production.

However in many ways the promotional tour is the easy bit. Now the hard work begins for our industry to develop customers that value Irish beef more than our present ones. If that happens then our farmers will see a value.

Will Americans have an appetite for Irish beef?