Group Chief Executive Officer, Ssp
Search every verified Patrick Coveney interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. On 28 February 2013, Patrick Coveney, then Group Chief Executive Officer of Greencore, spoke at the IBEC CEO Conference in Dublin. He discussed the 2013 European horse meat scandal, stating that "there is stuff in food that shouldn't be there and we need to get it out." He added that while the contaminated food was safe, "that is only a coincidence." Coveney also addressed Britain's role in the European Union, describing Britain's presence in the EU as "absolutely vital" to the Irish food industry. He noted that Ireland is Britain's largest export market for food and that the trade links between the two countries are "absolutely critical." He commented on the handling of the food crisis, saying that the most perceived Eurosceptic member of the British cabinet was adopting "the most pro-European policies" in driving the response, and that the solution "cannot exist within an individual country." He also stated that "the axis of change that is driving EU regulation in food right now is being driven by Britain and Ireland together."
“I think the first is the just the sheer scale of the trading relationships that we have in food. Um, I think everyone in Ireland recognizes uh, the size of the trading relationship and the exporting base that we have into, um, uh, into the UK. But it's actually much less known that Ireland is actually the biggest food...”
“It's precisely because of that that it is frustrating for multi-country businesses like ours um that the FSA and the FSAI are fighting with each other the way They post the horse meat scandal. And it's frankly an outrage at the way in which Alan Riley was treated when he was summoned to the and chose to attend the Hous...”
“where commentators and governments have said well at least this isn't a food safety issue I think they missed the point the point is there is stuff in food that shouldn't be there and we need to get it out it just so happens that it's safe but that I can assure you is only a coincidence.”
“it's a little ironic actually that perhaps the most perceived Eurosceptic member of the British cabinet is the person who's adopting the most pro-European policies and driving this through right now and I think you'll this handling of this and the solution to this which cannot exist within an individual country is an i...”
“The point is there is stuff in food that shouldn't be there and we need to get it out. It just so happens that it's safe but that I can assure you is only a coincidence.”
“The axis of change that is driving EU regulation in food right now is been driven by Britain and Ireland and it's been driven by Britain and Ireland together in a way that will benefit all of Europe.”
Patrick Coveney at The First UK-Ireland Food Business Innovation Summit.
On 28 February 2013 over 400 business and political leaders attended the IBEC CEO Conference at the Convention Centre Dublin to discuss the business of Europe. We had 30 media outlets including CNBC and RTE broadcasting live from the conference. Special thanks to our lead sponsor PwC, communications partner, eircom and media partner CNBC for their support. Visit www.ibec.ie/ceoconference for more information.
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Patrick Coveney.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →