"I've lived a bit of a boy's adventure tale," Mr Raymond O'Rourke, a leading food lawyer, says of his life to date. The 40-year-old bachelor has worked in the political and legal worlds in Washington, Brussels, London and Dublin, always following his nose and, he says, never planning his next move but taking opportunities as they arise.

Now with solicitors, Mason Hayes and Curran, one of Dublin's "big six", he advises groups from the Food Safety Promotion Board to small food processors on changing EU food laws and their national and EU responsibilities.

That might not fire up most people, but his main concern is consumers and their rights, which kind of means it should.

As well as his legal work, Mr O'Rourke has written the definitive work on EU food laws, European Food Law - updated again this year - and another, Food Safety and Product Liability. He once wrote a study for the European Parliament on Ireland's public transport system, Transport as a Bottleneck to Economic Growth in Ireland, which he says dealt with the most essential issue in both food and transport - choice. "You have to give consumers choices but the more choices you give them, the better. The political argument in the future is choice. They can do their own assessment with choice," he says.

There is a genuine feeling that European food law has to be improved, he says. When Commissioner David Byrne brought out a White Paper containing 84 recommendations last year, not one EU state demurred. "BSE undermined not only the UK regulatory system but also the EU regulatory system," he explains. "That is why there is all this mood for change at the moment because the original regime was built on free movement of goods. There was a consumer protection element but that wasn't paramount. "After foot-and-mouth, there were a lot of moves to look at the whole area of animal transport and welfare, protection systems and whether there are particular problems there for food further down the food chain."

The "greening" of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), changes under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and concerns about issues such as dioxins and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) will all play their part in shaping the future of the food industry from agri-food to the plate, he says. "That is not to say organic or green farming will take place overnight, but certainly when the CAP comes under review, it won't be just about prices and quota and what each country is to get. There will be a fundamental review of where the CAP links in with the food on the consumers' table . . . the more you look into the system in greater detail you see the particular areas where there is a problem or a breakdown in the communications.

"At the moment it seems there is a scare every few months and people would be very worried, but long-term this is something good for the industry and consumers because you will get more checks and balances in the system. Also consumers are demanding more. Before BSE, most consumers thought cows ate grass. On GMOs in soya and maize, there is concern because it's used so much in animal feed."

One of the flaws in the food chain in the EU and also in candidate states in central and eastern Europe is the "critical crosspoint" between where one state agency inspects the producer and another the retailer. Streamlining of inspections and audits so that each sector is aware of its responsibilities and obligations is crucial, he says.

"There is absolutely no use in having lots of laws if they are inadequately enforced. I think the Food Safety Authority (FSAI) has done a very good job in a very short time. What's been very good is that it's got producers, retailers and consumers on its side. But obviously these types of inspections cost money and ultimately that ends up with the Government. There needs to be more funding for official controls of foodstuffs to be provided to the FSAI."

Now that there is an all-Ireland food safety board, with a budget of more than £8 million (€10 million), he believes it will be able to anticipate problems such as the foot-and-mouth outbreak on an island basis. "I'm a great believer that food is no respecter of borders. We've a border, and it was no respecter of borders as we've seen."

Mr O'Rourke believes Ireland should appoint a Minister for Food, Consumer Affairs and Trade, while retaining a Minister for Agriculture at cabinet level. This minister should be responsible for food from the time it leaves the farmyard; take the health aspect from the Minister for Health "who has enough problems dealing with hospital waiting lists"; and take over the trade aspect, which is the work of Bord Bia.

One of his main criticisms of the proposed European Food Agency is its risk communication function. He worries that the function of the scientific panel, who are the risk assessors, will not be sufficiently streamlined with that of the people who will be making the decisions, the politicians. More explanation of scientific reports would be necessary. "You're unlikely to find consumers or people in the food industry tapping into the website and pulling down a 10-page scientific report on an issue. There must be a more user-friendly form to others in the food chain," he says.

Raymond O'Rourke was born - and now lives again - in Bray, Co Wicklow. He was educated at Oatlands College in Dublin and studied politics and Greek and Roman civilisation at UCD, because, he says, it was the only arts course for which he had sufficient points. He was told by people in UCD he would never get a job. "Two out of the five who did the degree have been very successful," he gloats.

Just out of college, on an introduction from Senator Maurice Manning, he went to work for US Congressman James J Howard, who was a member of the Public Works and Transportation Committee. "It was a pork-barrel committee. I never saw more naked power. It was a good training in life." Back in Europe, he worked in Dublin for ministers, Ivan Yates and Avril Doyle; in Europe for MEPs, Mary Banotti and Tom Raftery. In Brussels he did a law degree through the University of London before going to London to qualify as a barrister.

He is a member of the Government's GMO Advisory Committee and sits on the board of Mary Banotti's Irish Centre for Parentally Abducted Children. And, you've guessed it, he's a member of Fine Gael and confesses to wearing blue shirts, but only in the material sense.

His interests include literature - American and British novelists - and theatre. He follows Chelsea football club. He likes cooking and has recently taken a Mitchell's wine course. "It was a very mixed group, very down-to-earth and not snobbish."

With two reference books under his belt, he says the fear of actually writing a book has left and he's considering a John Grisham-style follow-up, based, wait for it, in centres of power on two continents.