Bernie Commins

Bernie Commins Profile Picture

Senior News Journalist

Bernie Commins has an honours degree in journalism from Dublin Institute of Technology. She previously worked in the world of agri media as editor of several industry publications and as a journalist she has covered a variety of topics from farm safety to rural-life matters. She also has a background in regional newspaper reporting. From south Tipperary originally, she spent her formative years on her uncle’s dairy farm.

Accessible Counselling Tullamore selected as main charity for Tullamore Show

Agri-Business

Accessible Counselling Tullamore selected as main charity for Tullamore Show

Accessible Counselling Tullamore (ACT) has been selected as the main charity for this year’s Tullamore Show and FBD National Livestock...
Ash dieback: Two thirds of applications still awaiting decision on RUS

Agri Politics

Ash dieback: Two thirds of applications still awaiting decision on RUS

Figures released by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) reveal that approximately two thirds of applications to...
Record number of veterinary professionals as 271 recently added to register

Agri-Business

Record number of veterinary professionals as 271 recently added to register

The Veterinary Council of Ireland (VCI) has registered 271 veterinary professionals to date, in 2022. The breakdown of recently registered...
GRI launches €100k kennel-improvement scheme

Rural Life

GRI launches €100k kennel-improvement scheme

Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI) – Rásaíocht Con Éireann – has launched a new scheme designed to assist greyhound owners across...
‘Ash is gone. Ash is dead’ – the ash dieback toll is more than a financial one

Agri-Business

‘Ash is gone. Ash is dead’ – the ash dieback toll is more than a financial one

“Ash is gone. Ash is dead,” said vice-chair of Limerick Tipperary Woodland Owners Ltd (LTWO), John O’Connell recently at the...
Wool feasibility report ‘offers very little to farmers’ – IFA

Agri-Business

Wool feasibility report ‘offers very little to farmers’ – IFA

The long-awaited wool feasibility report, published today (Friday, July 1) by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)...
France is first EU country to ban meaty names on non-meaty products

Agri-Business

France is first EU country to ban meaty names on non-meaty products

France is set to ban use of words associated with products of animal origin to describe products containing a “significant...
CSO: €533.5m increase in agricultural operating surplus for 2021

Agri-Business

CSO: €533.5m increase in agricultural operating surplus for 2021

Agricultural operating surplus for 2021 shows an annual increase of €533.5 million, or 18.1%, up from €2,953.7 million in 2020...
Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group told succession pathways are crucial

Agri Politics

Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group told succession pathways are crucial

The Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group has been told that sustaining Ireland’s agricultural sector requires succession pathways for new...
Number of registered milk-producer contracts down 60% since 1995

Agri-Business

Number of registered milk-producer contracts down 60% since 1995

The number of registered milk-producer contracts in the 2020/2021 milk year decreased by 14, or 1%, to 1,324 registered producers,...
Sheep farmers at their wits’ end as wool feasibility study still unpublished – ICSA

Agri-Business

Sheep farmers at their wits’ end as wool feasibility study still unpublished – ICSA

The delay in publishing the long-awaited wool feasibility study has been described as “unconscionable” by the Irish Cattle and Sheep...
Project Woodland review ‘lacks vision to create workable licensing system’

Forestry

Project Woodland review ‘lacks vision to create workable licensing system’

The farm forestry chair of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has described the Project Woodland review report, published this week,...
€650k GLAS+ balancing payments commence – DAFM

Agri Politics

€650k GLAS+ balancing payments commence – DAFM

More than 3,100 farmers will start to receive balancing payments under the Green Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) to the tune...
‘Pit not fit for purpose’: Farmer fined for polluting river with silage effluent

Environment

‘Pit not fit for purpose’: Farmer fined for polluting river with silage effluent

Inland Fisheries Ireland is appealing to the farming and agricultural community to ensure that silage pits are fit for purpose,...
Genetically modified maize gets green light for food and feed

Agri-Business

Genetically modified maize gets green light for food and feed

The European Commission has given the green light for genetically modified (GM) maize for food and feed. The commission’s authorisation...
Europe to assign risk level to products associated with deforestation

Agri-Business

Europe to assign risk level to products associated with deforestation

The EU is aiming to limit the consumption of products that are contributing to deforestation or forest degradation. The European...
Ash dieback: ‘No attempt made to address horrendous mess ash growers face’

Agri-Business

Ash dieback: ‘No attempt made to address horrendous mess ash growers face’

Ash dieback-impacted planation owners feel like they have been abandoned by the forestry service of the Department of Agriculture, Food...
Report shows impact of war in Ukraine on EU agri-food trade

Agri-Business

Report shows impact of war in Ukraine on EU agri-food trade

The total value of EU agri-food trade reached €32.6 billion in March 2022, an increase of 12% compared to March...