I see Ed O’Donnell of O’Donnells Crisps fame wants to add another string to his farming bow. O’Donnell, the face of the crisps first launched in 2010 and now a household name, has sought planning permission for a poultry unit on one of the family’s farms in south Tipperary.

Plans were lodged with Tipperary County Council for a 17,500-hen hatchery on the farm at Cloghanacody, Ardfinnan.

The unit would be heated by roof-mounted solar panels, with waste land spread or transported to an anaerobic digester.

Ed and his mother Marianne are co-directors of Seskin Dairies, a large dairy herd grazing under Sliabh na mBan, and he collaborated with his sister Kate with the successful crisp brand.

Further farm diversification is now the goal. The poultry unit, if it gets the green light, would employ four people; two full-time and two part-time.