Irlanda: Irish people can’t grow potatoes?

The comments were made by Grahame Morris, who said the following about Irish people growing potatoes; "Now I love the Irish, the parliament is full of Irishmen but these are people who can’t grow potatoes, they’ve got a mutant lawn weed as their national symbol and they can’t verbalise the difference between tree and the number three.

"The Irish have been growing potatoes for years. While it is thought that the potato reached Europe in the hands of returning Spanish explorers around 1570, how the potato came to be introduced into Ireland is not precisely known.Popular myth credits its introduction at Youghal, Co. Cork by Sir Walter Raleigh, while others say the potato was washed up on the shores of Cork after the wreck of the Spanish Armada in the area.

Falling Consumption

However, according to Bord Bia analyst Lorcan Bourke, if present trends continue, consumption in Ireland will drop from 162,000t a year at present to less than 100,000t by 2023.“The potato remains Ireland’s number one carb and sales are still far ahead of alternatives such as pasta and rice, but it has been in a state of decline in recent years that will continue if nothing is done,” he said.Earlier this year the EU Commission approved 50% EU co-funding for ‘Potato Potential’, a €4.3m programme to promote potatoes on the Irish and UK markets.