Ireland's sheep farmers, often regarded as the poorest in the agri sector, are beginning to benefit from Ireland's growing multicultural population.
This has led to a dramatic rise in lamb sales in Ireland, where the population is expected to rise to more than five million in the next decade.
Over the past five years the home market for lamb has become the second most important for producers, according to Bord Bia, which this week launches a new lamb promotion on the home market.
A decade ago, 80 per cent of Ireland's sheepmeat exports went to France, with the remaining 20 per cent consumed in the UK or at home.
However, figures for last year show that nearly 30 per cent of Irish sheepmeat was consumed at home, making it the second most important market behind France, which now takes 42 per cent of Irish sheepmeat.
A spokeswoman for the food board said yesterday that the ethnic make-up of Irish society was now an important factor in the growing demand for Irish lamb.
"Between that and the fact that consumers, especially those between 18-34, regard lamb as a convenient and tasty food, there has been a major growth in lamb sales at home."
She said the growth had been 10 per cent at retail level for the year ending March 2006, and she expected this growth to continue.
She said the new promotion campaign would run over four weeks, and would involve TV and radio adverts on local and national stations.
Some 426 TV commercials and 380 national and local radio commercials will be aired over the coming weeks. The promotion will also be supported by week-long competitions on radio and TV.
Bord Bia has also devised new recipes and cooking methods for lamb for circulation in shops.
Following the Irish promotion, Bord Bia will launch a campaign in France promoting Irish lamb.
This will begin in Paris and move south as the summer progresses.
While lamb production in Ireland has been falling in recent years, one million head were exported last year.
A total of 58,000 tonnes were exported in 2005.