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£1.8 million investment provides food safety 'asset'

29 September 2009

The Department for Employment and Learning has invested £1.8m in a new all-Island research centre to help ensure improved animal heath and traceability.

The Centre for Assured, Safe and Traceable Food (ASSET) was officially opened today at the Agri-Food Conference at Queen’s University.  The £1.8m investment is part of the Department’s ‘Strengthening the All-Island Research Base’ programme.

Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, said: “In Northern Ireland we have a higher percentage of our population employed in agriculture than in any other part of the UK so it is clear that ASSET will play a key role in the Province’s future economic viability.

“The investment from my Department will enable Queen’s University, and its Irish research partners, to focus on improving both animal health and the safety of meat and milk, as well as developing new and innovative ways of ensuring traceability across the island of Ireland.”

A key focus of ASSET is the formation of strategic linkages with an array of local agri-food industries, multi-national retailers and international research groups to ensure that it will not only be sustained into the long term, but will grow to become recognized as a global centre of excellence in food safety and traceability.  

Sir Reg continued: “This new facility creates a tremendous opportunity for both the Northern Ireland and Irish agri-food sectors to become firmly established as proponents of safe, nutritionally beneficial and ethical foods with a strong local branding and a hallmark of quality.”

Notes to editors:

  1. The funding for this project is sourced from the ‘Strengthening the All-Island Research Base’ stream, a programme launched in 2008 with two broad objectives–
    • to provide assistance to the Northern Ireland universities to enable them to build additional and sustainable research capacity and capability that will contribute to the development of the “all-Ireland Research Infrastructure” through meaningful and appropriately targeted collaboration with leading research teams in the Republic of Ireland;
    • to contribute to the economic and social development of Northern Ireland, and the island of Ireland as a whole, through the funding of projects which support the Northern Ireland Executive’s priorities as expressed through the Programme for Government, the Economic Vision and the Regional Innovation Strategy.
  2. The Republic of Ireland partner institutions are:
    Dublin City University;
    University College Dublin;
    Ashtown Food Research Centre, Dublin.
  3. The funding is part of the £17.2m awarded to Queen’s University and the University of Ulster in 2008 for a total of 12 projects to be supported via this programme.
  4. The objective of ASSET is to harness scientific knowledge and know-how which exists on the island of Ireland and to translate this into opportunities for improving economic development within the agri-food sector.
  5. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Employment and Learning Communications Branch on 028 9025 7872.  Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699715440 and your call will be returned.