Fields of Gold
The products are stocked in shops such as Donnybrook Fair and Morton’s of Ranelagh as well as a sprinkling of supermarkets around the country but Rogers is also exercising his powers of persuasion to gain a foothold with the multiples. “I’m optimistic about it,” he says.
This all sounds like a lot of work, so when does he fit in the day job at the Four Courts? “First of all, I have a lot of help, really great help. And secondly, this is my other life. I don’t go to the cinema. I don’t have a television,” he says.
“This is like another lung for me. The legal practice is extremely demanding and it’s great to have a way of getting completely away from it because you do need breaks for yourself . . . I’m consumed by this.”
Not surprisingly, he doesn’t see much of the farm during the working week. The barrister has been involved in a roll-call of famous cases and tribunals, most recently representing Independent TD Thomas Pringle who challenged the ratification of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) treaty.
“I would have no time for the farm during the week, absolutely no time,” he says. “That’s why I couldn’t do any of this without serious help, and with people who know what they are doing.” His son Jack, an agricultural science graduate, is involved in the farm but he too caught the legal bug and is a junior counsel. Local man Ian Downey has worked on the farm for years “and he’s fabulous,” he says.
Despite his love of the land, Rogers has no plans to cast off his black gown and wear the wellies full-time.
“No, honestly I don’t. I think I would get lonely. I’ve been doing very interesting work and that’s what I intend to stay doing.”
His enterprise may be small but Rogers believes this is the path people should take. “We have to begin looking at small ways of making enterprise. It’s one thing to rely on the big conglomerate food producers but there’s really high quality Irish food that can be made in a small way and which can be on the shelves of every supermarket,” he says. “And that’s the plan for us.”
Newgrange oils cost from €3.45 for 250ml. newgrangegold.ie
