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When Charlie was the Darling of the Organic Movement
On July 10th 1991, a very small, fledgling, and to be fair, hairy, organic movement had its new organic symbol launched in the Central Hotel, Dublin. Despite only having a few hundred members, there was one organic farmer there who had a particularly high profile, ensuring that the event made the national press. That organic farmer was the then Taoiseach, the late Charles J. Haughey, or Charlie as he was better known both then and today.
Green vision
Newer readers may find it hard to believe, but Charlie was both an organic farmer and, in the words of an IOFGA Chairman from the early 1990s, Pat Mulrooney, "probably the only Irish politician to date that had a significant impact on the sector". Charlie's own place at Kinsealy was farmed organically. He had a particular vision for Ireland. Well, he had a few, but one of them was Ireland as a green island, the "green breadbasket of Europe". According to Pat, "he probably inspired confidence in the movement; we were kind of seen as an alternative cult at the time. He gave us great credence".
Begrudgers
Not everyone was impressed with Charlie and his government's commitment to organics. Some felt that as far as the government was concerned, the west of Ireland was organic anyway, and a bit of jiggery-pokery with the standards could channel some of the newly emerging EEC funding towards Ireland. Others were a bit baffled by what they felt was disrespect being shown to the Taoiseach. In the words of the late David Storey, "a lot of our foreign brethren were not impressed that Charlie was going to launch the symbol. It had to be pointed out that he was our Taoiseach, and should be accorded respect".
By way of comparison and despite being far bigger and more mainstream now than it was back in 1991, IOFGA's November 2005 AGM had to make do with a Minister of State to address the meeting.
Indeed, when Charlie had to cancel his helicopter tour of three organic farms due to a foot injury, he had the decency to ring the farmers personally and apologise. It was in one of these conversations that he so impressed Pat Mulrooney with the scope of his organic vision for Ireland.
Personal interest
His personal interest was clear in choosing to so publicly align himself with this small "alternative cult". Can you imagine Tony Blair in the UK or Bertie Ahern here actually involving themselves so specifically and directly with an organic-only event? Remember the context: conventional farming was very antagonistic towards organics back then. Here was clean green Ireland, a country with no history of an industrial revolution, suddenly having to face up to food that could claim to be greener than over 99% of all other food produced in the country. Just to make the point clearer, here's a quote from a spokesman for the IFA, from the mid 1990s: "One point is worth making. We regard all Irish agricultural output as organic. Are you saying that if we go organic then everything else is downgraded somehow?hellip;we don't see any particular onus or need to promote or become involved in promoting organic agriculture. Because mainstream agriculture in this country is probably produced in the most ideal conditions in Europe, probably the world."
Organic supports
Charlie's personal interest led to the introduction of various supports for the organic sector. According to Pat Mulrooney "he established the research unit in Johnstown Castle – they took 120 acres away from the state and designated it an organic research farm. That was the biggest thing, I know at the time there was great inertia about it, but he pushed it through, he bullied it through".
Organic farming funding in the early 1990s totalled £450,000. This established the organic farming unit, which began conducting a variety of research projects, including research on rotations and pest and crop control in Irish conditions. A grant-aided organic farming degree-course in UCD was established and funding was given to help IOFGA function.
Desmond Thorpe was chair of IOFGA in 1991, when the funding came through. "It meant that there could be staff employed, and that people who had previously been working on a purely voluntary basis could at least get some remuneration of expenses." IOFGA itself got £60,000 a year for three years.
Along with this, in 1991, a pilot scheme was introduced offering grants of up to 50% of the cost of capital investment in production, storage and subsidiary equipment. According to Pat; "I always felt that if he had survived in politics a few years more, and maintained his interest in organics, he would have fast forwarded the movement quite a bit".
Royal aspirations
The question has to be asked; why was Charlie so interested in organics? Well, there are a few answers: what else would a guy who wore expensive shirts and had his own island eat? He'd hardly lower himself to eat a conventional spud now, would he? Once, people joked about serving organic food on Concorde: now, you couldn't imagine what else they would serve. Simply put: the UK has organic Prince Charles, and we had our own version, with his own regal pretensions.
He also seemed to realise that Ireland could play to its strengths; that the lack of something (namely industrialisation) could lead to benefits. Exporting 'brand Ireland' and welcoming tourists in search of an unspoilt rural idyll were part of his vision. He was not alone or novel in this: In different ways both De Valera and Ghandi saw something in what we would now call a soft eco footprint. Today, everyone from deep ecologists and ecofeminists to slow food types and straightforward Greens see it too. If this all seems a bit far fetched, then have a look at The Growth Illusion by Richard Douthwaite, where both Dev's and Ghandi's visions are tied into a coherent modern analysis of economics, localisation and sustainability.
Charlie had his flaws, some of them seismic, but his commitment to organics cannot be denied.
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