Enniscorthy Mart director Jim Walsh from Fethard, Co Wexford. \Philip Doyle
A is for action on climate targets. The Department of Agriculture revealed its new roadmap for agriculture and climate change, ‘Ag Climatise’, targeting ambitious cuts in methane, ammonia and nitrogen use on Irish farms over the coming decade. The roadmap sets out a total of 29 actions to be adopted over the coming years, which is hoped will help agriculture achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
B is for Brexit, which remains unfinished. The UK is set to leave the EU on 1 January, although negotiations continue at the time of writing, with fishing rights a sticking point. The EU has said it will not have time at this point to ratify a new deal before the New Year, so a no deal exit looks set to take place, with aims for agreement to follow soon after.