Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Browne TD officially opened the ‘Wexford Fleadh Artisan Food Hall’ as one of the highlights of the 2025 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann last Thursday 7th August 2025 at the Wexford Presbyterian Church on Anne Street, Wexford. Speaking at the event Minister James Browne TD spoke about the importance of Wexford food production as a key driver to the local economy.
Minister James Browne acknowledged Wexford County Council and Wexford Local Enterprise Office for their role in supporting the growth of the food production sector in Wexford. The Minister congratulated the Wexford Food Producers Network for hosting this bespoke event again this year, which he said was a wonderful showcase of Wexford’s finest artisan produced food to the huge number of visitors that have come from across the island of Ireland and overseas to the 2025 Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Wexford.
Before declaring the event officially open, Minister James Browne further recognised the achievements of Wexford Food Producers with their landslide success at the 2024 Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards bringing home thirty two awards last year for the Model County.
Other guest speakers included An Cathaoirleach, Wexford County Council Cllr Joe Sullivan, Lara McCann, FBD Insurance and Chairperson Paul Kehoe. In his welcome address Chairperson of the Wexford Food Producers Network Paul Kehoe said:
‘We could not have achieved this without the continued support of Wexford County Council and Wexford Local Enterprise Office. We would like to thank Chief Executive Eddie Taaffe, Director of Services Elizabeth Hore and Head of Enterprise & Economic Development Breege Cosgrave, Wexford Co. Council for their continued support of our organisation.’
We would like to thank Reverend David Curran and Graham Patterson from the Wexford Presbyterian Church for their partnership and support. Last year this magnificent historic building was brought back to life to host this particular event, and the Wexford Presbyterian Church has since been used by multiple Wexford based community groups for meetings, training workshops and exhibitions.
Finally, we would like to recognise the team of Wexford based companies and service providers once again led by Sean O’Keeffe, Kavanagh Engineering who all contributed to the successful delivery of this project including An Garda Siochana Wexford, Media365, Ensor O’Connor Solicitors, David Martin Health & Safety, South East Cleaning, Wexford Garden Services, Trudies Kitchen, Anne Deacon Food Safety, Arrow, Smartek Audio Visual, Think Print and finally Paul Cully and his team at The Old Granary.
The Wexford Food Producers Network provides a centralised member led and member representative organisation with a core remit to promote and support the business of Wexford food. The organisation has over fifty members who are Wexford based sole traders, SME’s and large companies. Their continued aim is to support Wexford food producers, to build a sustainable food industry and to contribute significantly to the Irish economy on a local, regional, national and international level through the export markets.
The Wexford Food Producers Network is recognised and supported by Wexford County Council, Wexford Local Enterprise Office and Wexford Local Development. The Wexford Food Producers Network engages with the Department of Agriculture, Food & The Marine and with national agencies Bord Bia, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Ornua –The Irish Dairy Board and Fáilte Ireland on various important issues for the Irish Food & Drinks sector.
FBD Insurance is the ‘Preferred Insurance Partner’ of The Wexford Food Producers Network.
Image Accreditation: Mary Browne, Browne’s Photography, New Ross