True characters

Seamus Sheridan

Irish food is . . .real black pudding, dry cured bacon, fresh fish, homemade brown bread, new potatoes, dark green cabbage, butchers who know how to hang their beef, cream that whips, apple tarts, Loop the Loops and lots of cheese and butter

To secure the future of Ireland's food heritage .. . we need to ensure the continued survival of our small and middle-sized farms. Without them, we will loose the quality of produce and the beautiful landscape that has made this country famous

Doing business in Ireland in the food sector is . . .constrained by our small domestic market. It is the need for export that has shaped so much of what we farm and produce as a country.

To me, cheese is all about . . .shape, smell, texture and a perfect rind that brings back memories of the maturing room it grew up in.

I could never be cajoled into picking my favourite Irish cheese . . .but internationally, I would be thinking off Azeitao, a sheep cheese from Portugal.

If I wasn't a cheesemonger . . .I'd be a park attendant in St Stephen's Green.

Working with my brother Kevin is . .. an honour. We have come through so much together and he is a rock of sense and sea of calm in contrast to myself.

My dream dinner party guests would be . . .Tina Fey, Simon Hopkinson, Sebastian Chaval and anyone from the 1976 Dublin football team that would care to join us.

I'd cook them . . .lots and lots of local fish and good homemade chips.

My ideal Sunday is spent . . .with my family, walking, exploring and just being out in the open together. Especially on a sunny winter's morning in Connemara.

I'm passionate about . . .the politics of food, agriculture and our environment. I would love to see countries starting to think globally, instead of putting national interests first when it comes to feeding our planet.

I'm really good at . .. washing up and folding clothes. I wish I was better at remembering names and faces, and spelling.

Not many people know this about me . . .but I'm very good at making Plasticine figures.

Seamus Sheridanis a founder of Sheridans cheesemongers and Green Party spokesperson on Agriculture, Food and the Marine