Darina Allen to address 44th plenary

Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery Schol will address the 44th plenary of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly that is currently taking place in the Seanad chamber, Leinster House, Dublin.

Darina Allen will speak at 11.45am today, on the issue of "opportunities for the food sector in Britain and Ireland" under the plenary's wider theme of "Making business easier between Britain and Ireland."

Ms Allen will speak about the regulation of the sector and the need to assist local producers to market their goods overseas.

The agenda for the plenary is as follows:

Monday 14th May

9.45am - Opening remarks and welcome from Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Senator Paddy Burke

9.50am - Role of transport in supporting business and tourism - Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar TD

11.45am - Opportunities for the food sector in Britain and Ireland - Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery School

2.45pm - Motion on the closure of RTE offices, London

3.05pm - Potential of shared services in the area of health provision - Minister for Health, James Reilly TD

4.00pm - Address by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD

Tuesday 15th May

10am - Developing trade opportunities between Britain and Ireland - Panel discussion with:

• Eoin Tonge, Group Development Director Greencore
• Sean O'Driscoll, CEO Glen Dimplex
• Sally Storey, Vice President and General Manager GlaxoSmithKline (Ireland) Ltd

11.45am - Britain and Ireland economic relations - Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Brian Hayes TD

Media outlets are welcome to attend or send a representative to the plenary. Those attending are requested to contact Ronan Farren, Q4 Public Relations for further information, accreditation and to make the necessary arrangements.

ENDS