Last Updated on 14th September 2020

The Extract attended a presentation in Dáil Eireann on Tuesday focusing on the myriad of potential possibilities for Ireland’s hemp industry, if the Irish government choose to back it.

Here’s what we learned: “It’s just a vegetable. What’s all the fuss about?” Those were the opening remarks of Marcus McCabe, a hemp farmer (and Agricultural Scientist) shortly after Gino Kenny TD had commenced the debate at the Dáil, framing the current status of hemp in Ireland.

Ireland CBD whitelabel is a thriving industry

Hemp to create prosperity and wealth in Ireland

The upshot of the one-hour presentation by stakeholders in the industry; in farming, building and the food business plus academia was that hemp farming is poorly understood by policymakers and that its multiple possibilities can create marked prosperity and wealth. Marcus McCabe ended his presentation with a plea to the Irish policymakers/government.

“To seize the opportunity to make a mark as a global leader in hemp and to be adult about this crop.”

The income potential for Irish farmers per hectare of hemp is significantly higher than beef and dairy production, the room heard. It’s the way forward and hemp farming is the future, this was the key message. Organic farming takes a little bit more effort and is undoubtedly more complex.

There is huge schism at the moment between organic and non-organic farming (mainstream) but the former method has a huge impact on our lives, McCabe said and remains a big influence on how hemp farmers do things. He went on to say hemp was the original agricultural crop to be cultivated and reminded us it is a symbiotic key in society and how we have a synergistic relationship with the plant.

The reported benefits of CBD to the human body are so numerous it's hard to believe we can't shout it from the rooftops.

Despite constantly facing obstacles and challenges – the only real limiting factor for hemp is access to capital. McCabe says growing large quantities is best practice in order to make the crop sustainable and viable.

Pharmacist Dermot Kavanagh said hemp is the most complete plant-based protein known to man, containing all nine essential amino acids, amounting to considerable nutritional, health and medicinal properties. With reference to the endocannabinoid system and how food supplements work in the body, Kavanagh pointed to the need for balance and hemp’s ability to maintain homeostasis in the body, advocating the use of hemp oil and CBD to supplement total optimal wellness.

“We can feed the world”

Kate Mullaney has built a hemp food business from the ground up in Co. Monaghan. (Kama Hemp) – is the only organic hemp juice in the world today. Cultivated and processed onsite on a farm in Clones, Co Monaghan. The crux of her talk was how we can futureproof the hemp industry. Her view is that we need to disentangle ourselves from the prohibition narrative and really focus on the jewel of the opportunity that presents itself to us. Kate is also the chairwoman of the Hemp Federation of Ireland.

Referencing Horace Plunkett – the man who kicked off the first Irish co-op movement, and whose slogan was ‘Better Farming, Better Business, Better Living’ she reminded the audience how the industry once flourished but was then suppressed for 100 years. With the industry now on the cusp of re-emerging, Mullaney is routinely getting calls and requests about just how rural farmers can integrate hemp into their business.



“Dairy is phasing out. Hemp is in. The demand is there. Rural Ireland is looking for answers,” she said.

Food production is now much more scientific, Kate said, people are thinking about food differently than before – they are interested in their coffee beans, where it came from, e.g the terpene profile of their mushroom. When food is your medicine you think differently and want to know where it came from. You have conviction and go the extra mile.

Hemp is the most valuable agriculture plant on the planet – there is an emerging global market opening up for any of the hemp industries – we need to open the market up, she urged. Farmers have a fantastic opportunity – to integrate a new plant and have a fruitful crop that delivers on all levels.

“What a fantastic image if green Ireland can bring hemp to the world – it is the most valuable crop on the planet. For me it is a no-brainer, hemp as food.”

She then spoke about her work with The Hemp Federation Ireland and the industrial applications of hemp – food, fuel, fire, fibre, pharma. Kate urged the room to focus and to take on board the multiple possibilities on offer. She is of the opinion that hemp is “the biological equivalent of crude oil”. So just how to seek a livelihood in hemp? – “Realise the possibilities – disentangle from the prohibition. This opportunity does not happen every day, just get on board. We can feed the world.” Her lasting message was to tap into that global market – “Ireland has a green image – run with it and go to the world with hemp!”

Sustainable building materials

Liam Donohue spoke from an academic point of view – He is a lecturer at DIT, a farmer and hemp businessman. He set up the first sheep insulation company in the UK.

Currently developing a framework for hemp building standards, he said the trajectory has not been easy in the current building climate. Facing, like the rest of the panel, a myriad of rules, compliance issues and roadblocks

He has since developed hemp insulation materials – “The building market is changing v v rapidly – we want to live comfortably globally but in a sustainable way. We retrofit our homes in Ireland for energy efficiency.”

People do this he said by importing renewable solar panels for example and other materials, but Donohue is interested in meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Explaining the potential of hempcrete as a sustainable material for buildings, Donohue outlined how recipes in hemp can be applied to floors as a plaster alternative, also as a wall materials ingredient and an app is in the works to bespoke a house – using hemp as an ingredient to customize your dream green home.

“We need to be allowed to build this industry”

Chris Allen (Hemp Federation Ireland) concluded proceedings by placing the Irish hemp industry in the context of global, European and domestic policy on green objectives. Allen led with the belief that in order to sustain our lives hemp is the ticket to longevity. It fits all the profiles – “why can't we grow it?”, she posed the question. ” It has a multitude of attributes.”

Hemp is globally recognised as a uniquely versatile bioresource with the capacity to provide high quality, renewable materials and chemicals across a range of industrial sectors. Industrial hemp is scientifically proven to absorb more CO2 per hectare than any forest or commercial crop, its sequestration potential is prolific and its capacity to impact industrial carbon emissions is immense. We know it has considerable nutritional, health and medicinal properties.

A growing body of international research shows that commercial hemp farming has a significant positive impact on the regeneration and socio/economic stability of rural communities. The nutritional food value of hemp, its soil-carbon sequestration properties and low energy requirements, its capacity to improve the yield of rotation crops and to reduce the impact of afforestation on agricultural land-use, as well as its employment and rural regeneration potential, means that hemp more than comprehensively fits the profile for IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) –

“transition pathways that carry the highest co-benefits – including for human health.” This is basically hemp.

“Hemp has the blueprint of the complete environmental policy,” Chris said, “We need to be investing and encouraging growth”.

Let’s do this right to futureproof the hemp industry

The pathway to success for a business in hemp can sometimes be fraught. “The route for the hemp industry is not the same as other agricultural routes. It’s quite an unwieldy process to get started. You need a contract to begin. Then go through a series of other bodies – garda clearance – documentation submitted back and forth and then you get a license.

There are enormous restrictions levied on us – the Irish CBD legal issues are ridiculous – narcotics propaganda – checks – access is denied – shops closing down. It is crazy what we endure! We need to be allowed to build the industry. There is too much to lose. We want to have the opportunity to do this right.”– Chris Allen pleaded.

We heard while the commercial viability of the global hemp industry is beyond dispute, the true value of its social and environmental benefits remain incalculable. Speakers from an array of viewpoints and trailblazers wanting to safeguard the future of hemp spoke with conviction. The panel convinced attendees it was a win-win for the economy and the environment.

Safe to say the appetite for hemp is huge and the consensus in the room was that there was a need for more reasoned and sensible debate about the business of hemp, overcoming hurdles and a template for success that future proofs the industry.

Better Farming, Better Business, Better Living is a good model that still holds up today and an apt catchphrase for the hemp farming movement going forward.

This discussion was organised by Hemp Federation Ireland (HFI) the policy research and advisory body for the Irish hemp industry. Membership spans the domestic value chain and includes the largest employer in the sector in Ireland. HFI is the only independent representative body for the hemp industry in Ireland.