FARM MINISTER Simon Coveney has discovered that he has more in common with the country’s chartered surveyors than he had ever imagined. The Cork politician was guest speaker in Portlaoise last Thursday at the first-ever agricultural seminar organised by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.

Society president John Curtin surprised the Cork TD by recalling his family’s long association with the chartered surveyors. Simon’s grandfather, PF Coveney, was not only a chartered surveyor but was one of the most distinguished presidents of the all-Ireland organisation more than 60 years ago.

To mark the Minister’s attendance, Curtin presented him with a framed photograph of his grandfather when he was elected president of the society in 1948. The surveyors need all the contacts they can get these days . . .