Ned Harty –  a true visionary

Building internationally successful businesses from a Kerry base is nothing new. Kerry Group and Fexco are just two examples of what can be achieved, whatever the location. The advent of fast, affordable and efficient broadband has only added to the ability to grow businesses in geographical locations not always best served by all the transport and other infrastructure components deemed necessary to facilitate successful business development. The death of Ned Harty, founder of Dairymaster, last month reminds us that entrepreneurs and pioneers can succeed no matter what challenges or disadvantages they face. Ned was, in so many ways, a pioneer back in 1968 when he founded Dairymaster in Causeway, Co. Kerry, almost 60 years ago. He preceded the development of Kerry Co-op into Kerry Group, an international player in the taste and ingredients sector, having gestated from fairly standard milk-processing activities. Ned’s Dairymaster developed in much the same way, from basic milking equipment to being a world-class manufacturer of advanced milking systems and ancillary technologies. We need only look at the diverse talent profiles of Dairymaster employees to get an insight into the highly developed business model that owes its creation to Ned. Data analysts, engineers, designers, fabricators and researchers, along with service technicians and advisors, provide proof that not all of the employment opportunities for well trained and highly educated people are necessarily located on the east coast of Ireland. The ‘vision thing’ is sometimes exaggerated and hyped out of proportion to reality. Not so in the case of Ned. His engineering skills, as excellent as they were, are only one part of the story. With drive, positivity, and vision, Ned developed and drove an idea into an international business with footprints across the globe from Australia and New Zealand, to the US and the Middle East. He surrounded himself with imaginative and skilled associates. His family contributed enormously to the success of Dairymaster in recent decades and continues to offer advanced solutions to the global dairy sector. Ned Harty and his like are among the real heroes of rural Ireland. They have facilitated employment opportunities where few existed before. They – and I include the string of pearls of other agri-related businesses right across the country – have allowed communities to thrive, and have brought wealth and prosperity to so many parishes, villages and towns up and down the country. Some have focused on local and national opportunities, while others have broadened their ambitions to a global scale. Being able to compete with often larger multinational players, both at home and abroad, should be a cause of ongoing celebration. We rightly welcome multinational corporations into Ireland. At the same time, we – and I single out Enterprise Ireland in this regard – have rightly financially supported, mentored and encouraged our own businessmen and women to develop nationally and internationally competitive businesses. At the National Ploughing Championships  last month, we witnessed this indigenous business support structure in action. Both business acorns and oak trees were on display at the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena. Those who denigrate our agricultural sector would do well to ponder the full implications of winding down our grass-based livestock production model in favour of a command-economy type agricultural model focused almost entirely on a domestic market of five million people. Ned Harty and others have shown how well we can perform on a world stage, competing against the best with the best of our own.